The social media giant Facebook has come under fire recently when someone claiming to be a former employee revealed that conservative news items were supposedly being suppressed from the list of "trending" topics. In an attempt to clarify the issue, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has invited several prominent conservative figures to the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California this Wednesday.
The 12 conservatives who Zuckerberg invited to address the issue include Glenn Beck, a popular right-wing celebrity, and former Fox News host. Dana Perino, one of the hosts of "The Five" on the Fox News Channel was also invited as well as SE Cupp, a conservative media personality from CNN. Regarding the issue itself, the Facebook CEO stated that they already looked into the matter and found no evidence regarding the allegations.
"I'm going in with an open mind and an eagerness to learn more," Cupp said in an article covering the story by CNN. "Conservatives and Silicon Valley actually come down on the same side of many issues and share some common concerns. I'm sure we'll find plenty to talk about, and I'm honored to have been included."
Facebook has become one of the biggest sources of information for its more than 1 billion users. Of its American adult users, as many as 41 percent have stated that they get their news from the social media site: This was according to a 2015 study done by the Pew Research Center and the Knight Foundation.
As such, when an anonymous former employee revealed to "Gizmodo" that the company was supposedly omitting conservative news items from reaching its users, feathers were ruffled. The company released its guidelines for "Trending Topics" in response to the allegations and stressing that the reviewers are not allowed to discriminate against sources of any kind. Facebook is still continuing their investigations into the allegations.
