LESS POLITICS PLEASE

Facebook said Wednesday it will start testing ways to reduce the amount of political content users see, building on CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s commitment on a call with investors last month to dial back political content.

The tests will start this week in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia, and will expand for some users in the U.S. in coming weeks, Facebook said in a blog post.

Information about the coronavirus pandemic from authoritative health organizations, as well as content from official government agencies and services, will be exempt from the tests, but pages for individual politicians or public officials will not be exempt, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed.

The push comes as Facebook is under mounting scrutiny to change its algorithm after the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.