Facebook changes news feed to allow users to manage spam and fact-checked content

Facebook is taking steps to increase user control over the content they see in their news feed by introducing new settings allowing users to regulate spam, sensitive, or “fact-checked” content. This new feature will enable users to increase or decrease the presence of such content according to their preferences. The move builds on content control settings that Instagram introduced in 2021. Users will be able to manage demoted items concerning four categories: low-quality spam, “unoriginal” content, suicidal posts, and fact-checked items. Each category will have separate controls enabling users to manage their news feed precisely.

A Meta spokesperson said, “We’re giving people on Facebook even more power to control the algorithm that ranks posts in their Feed. We’re doing this in response to users telling us that they want a greater ability to decide what they see on our apps.” The new changes are part of a set of updates to user settings over the last few years. Facebook last year changed its news feed to include more content from friends and family.

The new controls will be available globally in the coming weeks for the first three categories, and only in the US at launch for the “fact-check” group. The fact-check category will allow users to affect the prevalence of the “fact check” tags on relevant posts.

The platform’s parent company, Meta, has faced growing pressure from governments to allow more user control over content. Meta recently announced plans to help European users opt-out of having their data collected. Earlier, the Congress put pressure on Facebook to address its handling of children and algorithms in light of recent revelations about the company’s practices.

Overall, the move by Facebook is aimed at providing users more power to regulate their content and better manage their news feed while ensuring that they see the content that they want without interference from inappropriate content types.