Former Facebook workers said this week that the social media company often avoided letting news popular among conservative Americans appear in its “Trending” section. The former workers told the website Gizmodo that they were told to select stories to include in the Trending list, even if those stories were not actually trending. The former workers also said they were told not to include topics about Facebook itself into the trending list. One of the former workers told Gizmodo that the policies “had a chilling effect on conservative news.” Another accused Facebook of being biased in its selection of trending topics. The controversy did become the No. 1 trending topic on Facebook for part of the day Monday. Many Facebook users were surprised that the company permitted the discussion to even appear in its Trending section. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that a Facebook official said the company has found no evidence to support the former workers’ claims.
Title: Are Facebook's Trending Topics Unfair?
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/bias_audio.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Are Facebook's Trending Topics Unfair?' data-article-id='1523'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='16958'>Former Facebook workers said this week that the social media company often avoided letting news popular among conservative Americans appear in its “Trending” section.</span> <span data-start-time='16958' data-end-time='32167'>The former workers told the website Gizmodo that they were told to select stories to include in the Trending list, even if those stories were not actually trending.</span> <span data-start-time='32167' data-end-time='41979'>The former workers also said they were told not to include topics about Facebook itself into the trending list.</span> <span data-start-time='41979' data-end-time='52417'>One of the former workers told Gizmodo that the policies “had a chilling effect on conservative news.”</span> <span data-start-time='52417' data-end-time='60229'>Another accused Facebook of being biased in its selection of trending topics.</span> <span data-start-time='60229' data-end-time='68938'>The controversy did become the No. 1 trending topic on Facebook for part of the day Monday.</span> <span data-start-time='68938' data-end-time='78479'>Many Facebook users were surprised that the company permitted the discussion to even appear in its Trending section.</span> <span data-start-time='78479' data-end-time='90688'>The Associated Press reported Tuesday that a Facebook official said the company has found no evidence to support the former workers’ claims.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/bias_img.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=6145 data-hint-location='52417' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/what_does_bias_mean.m4a'>What does bias mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='having an unfair tendency towards something'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/to_argue.m4a'><span>to argue</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/having_an_unfair_tendency_towards_something.m4a'><span>having an unfair tendency towards something</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/a_discouraging_effect.m4a'><span>a discouraging effect</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/to_keep_secret.m4a'><span>to keep secret</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=6146 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/what_type_of_news_is_supposedly_not_allowed_in_the_trending_section.m4a'>What type of news is supposedly not allowed in the trending section?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='conservative'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/optimistic.m4a'><span>optimistic</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/liberal.m4a'><span>liberal</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/conservative.m4a'><span>conservative</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/bad.m4a'><span>bad</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=6147 data-hint-location='32167' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/former_workers_at__blank__have_made_claims_about_the_trending_news_section.m4a'>Former workers at <span class='blank'>Facebook</span> have made claims about the trending news section.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='Facebook'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/facebook.m4a'><span>Facebook</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/twitter.m4a'><span>Twitter</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/linkedin.m4a'><span>LinkedIn</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1043/instagram.m4a'><span>Instagram</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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