Facebook to temporarily ban group recommendations as 'precaution' ahead of US Elections

Few days ahead of the 2020 US Elections, the social media giant Facebook on Friday announced that it is temporarily stopping recommendations for all political groups as well as new groups. This decision came after platforms including Facebook, Google and Twitter were called to testify on Section 230. While referring to Senate hearing that was held on Wednesday, Facebook's Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said that the company has taken all the necessary actions to stop the Facebook group recommendations as a precaution, as per international media reports. 

The social media giant took this step ahead of the US elections as several groups have claimed these Facebook groups and communities are used to spread 'misinformation' as well as other 'extremist' activities. These watchdog and advocacy groups have urged Facebook to limit the group recommendations in order to reduce such activities. While Facebook hasn't officially made any statements on how long the halt on group recommendations would last, international media has reportedly stated that the ban is temporary. 

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US Senate hearing 

The US Senate hearing on Section 230 was aimed at reforming internet law and holding tech companies accountable for regulating the content on their platforms. But this hearing soon turned into a political scuffle wherein lawmakers attacked the companies and accused them of 'selective censorship'. The CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, and Google, Marck Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai respectively were grilled in a US Senate hearing.

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Republican Senator Ted Cruz accused the tech giants of 'selective censorship' against the conservatives while focusing on the 'insufficient action' against the misinformation surrounding the November election. While the heads of the tech companies gave a limited number of responses, they did clarify that it was crucial to monitor free speech on the platforms. As the lawmakers remain divided on the ways to hold the giants accountable under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the tech firms insisted that the law (Section 230) provides them with the tools needed, in order to maintain a balance between securing free speech of the people while monitoring the content.

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Even though all three companies agreed that some reform in the law is required to moderate the content and shall be held liable if the platforms act as a publisher, they denied being the referees over political speech, which left some Republicans furious. 

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