Publishing Execs Accuse Facebook Of False Equivalency With News Outlets

A Facebook logo is seen on a smartphone in this photo illustration on November 15, 2017. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto)
A Facebook logo is seen on a smartphone in this photo illustration on November 15, 2017. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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At a meeting last week, publishing executives accused Facebook of scrambling to include far-right outlets with questionable journalistic standards to “balance” mainstream and trusted publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post, according to a Tuesday Wall Street Journal report.

BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith and HuffPost editor in chief Lydia Polgreen specifically took issue with the Daily Caller, saying that the far right publication lacks journalistic standards, and that Facebook accommodates it to assuage conservatives who claim that publications like the Times and the Post are leftwing.

Per the Wall Street Journal, publisher of the Daily Caller Neil Patel defended his publication’s reporting.

The meeting comes shortly before executives from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are slated to go before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

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