Facebook is reportedly responding to bad press by promoting Facebook in users' News Feed, apologizing less


Facebook, tired of all the news stories about how it had become a cesspool of vaccine misinformation, conservative agitprop, body-shaming, and other societal harms, came up with a plan at a January meeting to use Facebook's own News Feed to promote Facebook, The New York Times reports. CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed off on the initiative, code-named Project Amplify, in August, and the company quickly began test-marketing the plan in three U.S. cities.
"The idea was that pushing pro-Facebook news items — some of them written by the company — would improve its image in the eyes of its users," the Times reports, citing three people with knowledge of the effort. "But the move was sensitive because Facebook had not previously positioned the News Feed as a place where it burnished its own reputation. Several executives at the meeting were shocked by the proposal, one attendee said."
Project Amplify was just one part of a multifaceted push to improve Facebook's image, which executives decided was being undermined by high-profile apologies by Zuckerberg and other top leaders and Facebook's practice of letting researchers study internal data. So in January, the Times reports, Facebook also decided there would be less apologizing, and the company started closing off access to its data and shutting out researchers who utilized it. Facebook also reportedly started distancing Zuckerberg from the social media platform's scandals and focused on recasting him as an innovator, at his request.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"They're realizing that no one else is going to come to their defense, so they need to do it and say it themselves," Katie Harbath, a former Facebook public policy director, told the Times.
Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne told the Times his company has not changed its approach and compared Project Amplify to "corporate responsibility initiatives people see in other technology and consumer products." He said the Facebook-promoted posts are "clearly marked" and said "people deserve to know the steps we're taking to address the different issues facing our company — and we're going to share those steps widely." For his part, Zuckerberg took issue with the Times describing "a hydrofoil that I'm pumping with my own legs" while carrying an American flag as an "electric surfboard." Read more at The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The battle over Jamaican rum
Under The Radar The spirit that defines the Caribbean is at the middle of a legal fight
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Do student loans affect a credit score?
the explainer Repaying loans on time will strengthen your credit — but paying late will hurt it
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Cherry blossom season: Washington diners’ happy time
feature The five best spots to enjoy the festivities
By The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deportees
speed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US officials share war plans with journalist in group chat
Speed Read Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal conversation about striking Yemen
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Canada's Mark Carney calls snap election
speed read Voters will go to the polls on April 28 to pick a new government
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk set to earn billions from Trump administration
Speed Read Musk's company SpaceX will receive billions in federal government contracts in the coming years
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reports: Musk to get briefed on top secret China war plan
Speed Read In a major expansion of Elon Musk's government role, he will be briefed on military plans for potential war with China
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump signs order to end Education Department
Speed Read The move will return education 'back to the states where it belongs,' the president says
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pauses $175M for Penn over trans athlete
Speed Read The president is withholding federal funds from the University of Pennsylvania because it once allowed a transgender swimmer to compete
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published