The question had been raised before: What if Facebook, struggling with the global “fake news” problem, just threw up its Like hands and de-prioritised news altogether? In the dawn of 2018, it doesn’t seem as far fetched anymore. Mark Zuckerberg’s goal for the new year (joining previous annual goals of visiting all 50 U.S. states, running 365 miles in a year, and building an AI system for his home) is now focusing on fixing Facebook’s issues of abuse, hate, foreign interference, and mindless scrolling (maybe). But how does “fixing” affect the distribution of legitimate news?
