Zuckerberg to meet with conservatives over political bias report

Facebook is under fire after a report accused it of manipulating its trending topics feature to promote or suppress certain political perspectives. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the company is investigating the allegations, and he pledged to meet with conservative leaders angered by the report. less Facebook is under fire after a report accused it of manipulating its trending topics feature to promote or suppress certain political perspectives. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the company is ... more Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Zuckerberg to meet with conservatives over political bias report 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday he plans to meet with conservative leaders to discuss Facebook’s Trending Topics feature, after a news outlet raised questions over whether the social network stifles conservative views.

“We take this report very seriously and are conducting a full investigation to ensure our teams upheld the integrity of the product,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page Thursday night. He announced plans to chat with “leading conservatives and people from across the political spectrum” on the issue.

Zuckerberg doesn’t have to go far to seek advice from conservatives.

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PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who sits on Facebook’s board, is a delegate for Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who financially supported Republican Mitt Romney for the White House in 2012, also serves on the Facebook board.

Andreessen and Thiel were not immediately available for comment. A Facebook representative did not return requests for comment.

Facebook has been in the hot seat this week over Trending Topics, a feature that helps users discover popular topics under discussion on the social network. On Monday, tech news site Gizmodo reported that contractors who worked on Trending Topics said stories that would interest conservatives were taken out or “suppressed” from the list of topics.

Following the report, the Senate Commerce Committee wrote Zuckerberg a letter demanding more information. In his Facebook post Thursday, Zuckerberg said the company hasn’t seen any evidence that suggests the allegations are true.

The company has guidelines that “do not permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or the suppression of political perspectives,” he said.

“If we find anything against our principles, you have my commitment that we will take additional steps to address it,” he wrote.

Zuckerberg has criticized some of Trump’s political positions, without naming the candidate. At an April conference, Zuckerberg said, “I hear fearful voices building walls and distancing (themselves from) people that they label as others, for slowing immigration, reducing trade, even cutting access to the Internet. It takes courage to choose hope over fear.”

In March, a Facebook employee asked on an internal poll, “What responsibility does Facebook have to help prevent President Trump in 2017?” according to a Gizmodo report. The poll was to select questions Zuckerberg would answer at a meeting. It is unclear whether he answered that question.

Regardless of how Facebook runs Trending Topics, it isn’t violating anyone’s First Amendment rights, said David Cruz, a law professor at University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law. Generally, he said, the “First Amendment restricts government and doesn’t restrict private businesses.”

But it’s still important for Facebook to address the issue, analysts said.

“Facebook — realistically, to garner the kind of audience that they have — has to take a neutral position,” said Tim Bajarin, president of advisory services firm Creative Strategies.

San Francisco Chronicle

staff writer Jessica Floum contributed to this report.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee