Facebook is conducting a "full investigation" into its trending topics section after a report this week accused the social network of regularly suppressing politically conservative news stories, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced late Thursday.
"We have found no evidence that this report is true," Zuckerberg wrote in a post. "If we find anything against our principles, you have my commitment that we will take additional steps to address it."
This is now the second time Facebook has addressed a Monday report from Gizmodo that claimed the site "routinely" censors right-wing content — including stories about the CPAC gathering, Mitt Romney, Rand Paul, and more.
Facebook says its trending section objectively lists "topics that have recently become popular on Facebook." But several former Facebook news curators reportedly told Gizmodo that they were instructed to include certain stories in the trending news section, even if they weren't popular among users, and demote conservative topics that were actually trending.
In his statement Thursday, Zuckerberg said he will invite leading conservatives and other political figures to speak with him about this issue.
"I want to have a direct conversation about what Facebook stands for and how we can be sure our platform stays as open as possible," he wrote, adding that the issue "gets to the core of everything Facebook is and everything I want it to be."
"Every tool we build is designed to give more people a voice and bring our global community together," Zuckerberg wrote. "For as long as I'm leading this company this will always be our mission."