Facebook Is Launching an Attempt to Crush Clubhouse

Facebook is launching a podcast and live audio streaming service on its platform in the U.S. this week as it aims to compete with Twitter’s new Spaces feature and the popular app Clubhouse.

AP News reports that Facebook is launching podcasts and live audio streams in the U.S. on Monday in an attempt to keep users engaged on its platform and to compete with rival companies such as Twitter, which recently launched its own Spaces feature, and Clubhouse which pioneered the live audio chat room concept.

Facebook says that it is allowing public figures with verified accounts to host live audio chat rooms and invite others to speak. A number of podcasts will also be available to U.S. users and the company plans to add more down the line.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has himself appeared on the audio streaming app Clubhouse in the past and hosted his own live audio room on his Facebook page last week. Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, wrote in a blog post: “Live Audio Rooms and podcasts rolling out in the US is just the beginning of our audio journey. Looking ahead, we are working with creators who will use our audio tools to further develop and launch Soundbites — short-form, creative audio clips.”

Facebook says that its rules surrounding extremist content and misinformation will also apply to its audio streams and noted that anyone can report offending material, stating: “In addition, our broader integrity and safety work and the tools we have built for proactively and automatically identifying harmful content are great building blocks, but we plan to adapt tech and processes as we learn more.”

Facebook says that it may also retain live audio after it is no longer live to enforce its policies, which will be done by both human moderators and machine learning.

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