If you’re currently trying to convince Facebook to change its policies or even put users’ privacy ahead of profits, you’re getting some bad news: a leaked Facebook document showed how frequently the company makes changes to its News Feed algorithm and, in general, how the rates on these changes change depending on where you live.
The news comes from a report by BuzzFeed, citing what it calls “a former Facebook employee and an external whistleblower”.
The document, which BuzzFeed suggests was an internal document and was given to BuzzFeed by someone at Facebook, shows how Facebook treats “special cases” within the company. A “special case” here means an “issue” to which the algorithms do not respond quickly enough.
The document, dated from March 2018, shows the reevaluation process – known internally as the “avatar update” – along with things like:
If a post from someone you follow has been removed from your feed, you’ll see a notification, which might include the post’s postcode.
If a story has been removed, the app may include a postcode notification, which you may see when you open it up.
If a company has been contacted by Facebook for the third time, it may be included in your feed, alongside other partners like Instagram, for a week.
These changes affect Facebook users in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Argentina, Malaysia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Chile, Portugal, Russia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uganda, Singapore, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, the UAE, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Croatia, Iceland, Netherlands, Hungary, Serbia, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Qatar, Belgium, France, Switzerland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Canada, Ukraine, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Kenya, Egypt, Lebanon, South Africa, Sudan, Libya, Serbia, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Lebanon, Somalia, Georgia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Kuwait, Qatar, India, Sudan, Djibouti, Morocco, Tunisia, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Egypt, Jordan, Eritrea, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Territories, Sudan, Nigeria, South Sudan, Ivory Coast, Libya, Somalia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Yemen, Namibia, South Africa, Indonesia, The Maldives, Ethiopia, Gambia, Congo, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Mauritania, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Burundi, Uganda, Gabon, Uganda, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, Lesotho, Swaziland, Central African Republic, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, South Africa, Gabon, Senegal, Cameroon, East Timor, Myanmar, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Niger, Rwanda, Chad, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Togo, Burundi, the Gambia, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Niger, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Zambia, Liberia, Malawi, Malawi, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Rwanda, Congo, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Central African Republic, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin,