Facebook will be responsible for gathering questions for one of the first presidential debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Commission on Presidential Debates has revealed.
“Facebook will be providing data to the moderators in the weeks leading up to the debates on what people are searching and saying about the election, the candidates, and the issues,” the commission announced.
The social network will also be the “exclusive social media sponsor for the first and third presidential debates, [and] will be on site at the debate host universities. Members of the media, students, and the campus community will be using Facebook Live to broadcast and show what is happening at the debate site,” it was revealed.
Anyone will be able to submit a question for consideration, according to Janet Brown, the commission’s executive director, to be asked by either ABC’s Martha Raddatz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who will be chairing the debate.
Other companies participating in the debates include Snapchat, YouTube, and Google.
Twitter, however will not be directly involved in the debate, although the MIT Media Lab’s Electome Project will be analysing data and conversations across the platform.
Facebook’s influential involvement may raise some eyebrows amongst conservatives, with the company having a well documented liberal bias. It was revealed last week that Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz had given over $20 million to left-wing causes in an attempt to beat Donald Trump.
The company has also been accused of suppressing conservative news sites, including Breitbart, instead choosing to amplify movements such as Black Lives Matter.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at ben@yiannopoulos.net
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