Facebook Inc (FB.O) announced a set of three new
features on Wednesday intended to boost civic engagement among users in the
United States on its platform by connecting them more easily with their elected
representatives.
The new offerings come as the social media juggernaut
has sought to rehabilitate its image as a credible source of information
following a wave of criticism after last November's presidential election that
the company did too little to combat misleading or wholly fabricated political
news stories during the campaign.
Among the features, Facebook will now allow users to
turn on "Constituent Badges" to identify them as living in their
elected officials' district. The opt-in badge will be visible when a user
comments on content shared by their federal, state and local representatives.
Facebook also announced "Constituent
Insights," which allows elected officials and other users to find local
news stories that are popular in their district.
"District Targeting" creates a new preset
audience selection that lets politicians' pages target posts to people likely
to be their constituents.
Facebook has continued to come under attack from
prominent Democrats and some technology experts despite a raft of changes it
has made in recent months that seek to help users consume more legitimate
political news.
Hillary Clinton, who ran for president as a Democrat
last year but lost to President Donald Trump, a Republican, said last week that
Facebook was flooded with false information about her during the campaign and
that people were understandably misled. She said she wanted Facebook to curate
its network more aggressively.
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