Frustrating because we've been warning about exactly this problem in the great shift towards Groups. https://twitter.com/donie/status/1324342920854573056

As @JeffHorwitz and @dseetharaman have reported, an internal Facebook presentation from *2016* showed that extremist groups were a problem, and that 64% of extremist group joins were due to Facebook's *own* recommendation algorithms.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-it-encourages-division-top-executives-nixed-solutions-11590507499

FB's Common Ground team suggested product changes, such as tweaking the recommendation algs or trying to salvage derailed conspiratorial conversations through moderation. But it warned in 2018 combating polarization would mean lower engagement and would be "antigrowth."

This great @WIRED piece from @wiczipedia and @CindyOtis_ details problems with Groups in spreading both health and political disinformation. Their conclusion: Facebook Groups are Destroying America. https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-groups-are-destroying-america/

For all its talk of progress and wanting to do the right thing, Facebook has failed to address the systemic features of its platform that create rabbit holes and conspiracy dens. Instead, it has doubled down on them. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/16/zuckerbergs-focus-on-facebook-groups-increases-facebook-engagement.html

Here’s the “Stop the Steal” group, created November 4th, and now at 283K+ members and growing strong. (H/t @donie )

Interestingly, it is attracting people genuinely looking for objective news sources.

... and pointing them towards RT.