Facebook: No evidence of systematic political bias, making changes

Two weeks after a story surfaced on the tech website Gizmodo quoting an anonymous ex-staffer who alleged that members of Facebook's "Trending Topics" team had a bias against showcasing conservative interest stories, Facebook's general counsel said in a statement that the investigation has found no evidence of "systematic political bias."

"We were also unable to substantiate any of the specific allegations of politically-motivated suppression of particular subjects or sources," the statement read. "In fact, we confirmed that most of the subjects mentioned in media reports were included as trending topics on multiple occasions."

However, in the same statement, Stretch said the investigation could not fully exclude the possibility of isolated improper actions or unintentional bias.

Facebook said it is also making improvements to Trending Topics, including updating terminology in its guidelines, refresher training for all reviewers, and additional controls and oversight of the Trending Topic review team.