News Corp. Warns Facebook to Avoid ‘Political’ Changes
Murdoch’s News Corp. Warns Facebook to Avoid ‘Political’
Changes
By Gerry Smith January 12, 2018, 2:10 PM PST
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., publisher of the Wall Street
Journal and New York Post, will keep an eye on Facebook Inc.’s news-feed
changes “for any signs that the weighting of news sites is politically
motivated.”
In a statement Friday, the publisher said it welcomed
changes “that reward quality and confront clickbait,” but said it was too soon
to say how the revisions would affect publishers. “We intend to monitor the
impact closely,” the company said, adding it will continue pressing Facebook to
encourage users to subscribe to its newspapers through the social-media platform.
News Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robert Thomson has
been an outspoken critic of tech giants like Facebook and Google in recent
years, arguing that the companies have failed to stop the spread of
misinformation and provide a safe place for advertisers. News Corp. also
recently launched a digital advertising network with its publishing properties,
wooing marketers looking for alternatives after finding their digital ads
showing up next to controversial online content, especially on YouTube.
On Thursday, Facebook said it would change its algorithm
to show users more posts from friends and family and fewer from publishers. The
move may hurt the online reach of many media outlets that rely on the social
media giant to reach bigger audiences. Facebook didn’t say whether the changes
would affect publishers that espouse political views.
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