Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to host right-wing personality Glenn Beck in conservative charm offensive
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is to mount a personal charm offensive amongst US conservatives after the impartiality of the social network was called into question by former editors of its trending topics feature.
This was alleged to have prioritised so-called ‘progressive’ views and websites over content supplied by platforms with a right-wing agenda.
Zuckerberg has denied any bias in the system but has conceded that human editors were in charge of ranking stories and not an automated popularity algorithm but in an effort to smooth over relations Facebook will host a number of leading lights from conservative institutions at its Californian HQ.
These will include fiery radio host Glenn Beck, Fox News presenter Dana Perino, Jim DeMint, founder of the Heritage Foundation and senior Donald Trump advisor Barry Bennett.
Speaking ahead of the visit Beck said: “It would be interesting to look him (Zuckerberg) in the eye as he explains and a win for all voices if we can come to a place of real trust with this powerful tool.
"While they are a private business and I support their right to run it any way they desire without government interference, it would be wonderful if a tool like Facebook independently chose to hold up freedom of speech and freedom of association as a corporate principle."