Facebook fuels General Election engagement with manifesto comparison tool
Facebook is encouraging its army of members to become politically engaged with the release of a manifesto comparison tool designed to pair up individual news articles with the stated standpoint of each political party on the issue.
Facebook fuels General Election debate with manifesto comparison tool
Perspectives will see a location-sensitive prompt inserted at the bottom of news items pertaining to the 8 June vote, outlining each party’s stance on housing, the economy and foreign affairs to prospective voters in randomized order.
Targeted at Facebook’s 30m UK users the feature will pop up a maximum of three times per day in response to the types of article viewed rather than the individual and builds on the successful use of a similar tool used during the French presidential election.
Outlining its rationale a Facebook spokesman said: "People have told us it is sometimes difficult to find reliable and comprehensive information about the parties' election manifestos.
"In response, we created a space that allows each party to share explanations of their campaigns directly to people through their Facebook page. People can choose to engage with different party pages to learn about the issues that matter to them."
Facebook has been under pressure to do more to regulate its news offer amidst accusations it has become a hub for the dissemination of ‘fake news’.