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June 9 (UPI) -- After a Facebook algorithm change, local Republican Party posts in 2019 were shared twice as much as local Democratic posts, according to new research published Wednesday. That happened even though local Democratic parties posted more often on Facebook. The research paper was published in the journal Research & Politics.
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"Regardless of Facebook's motivations, their decision to change the algorithm might have given local Republican parties greater reach to connect with citizens and shape political realities for Americans," the research paper said. "The fact that private companies can so easily control the political information flow for millions of Americans raises clear questions for the state of democracy."
The research showed that from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2019, posts by local Republican parties were shared 1,684,586 times. Content from local Democratic parties was shared 800,659 times.
Over the same six months in 2018, content from local Democratic parties was shared nearly 50% more than that of Republican parties.
The report said, "We conclude that it seems possible that changes in how Facebook rated content led to a doubling of the total shares of local Republican party posts compared to local Democratic party posts in the first half of 2019 even though Democratic parties posted more often during this period."
Researchers wrote that if changes in Facebook's algorithm fundamentally change the reach of political parties on Facebook there is the potential for Facebook to accidentally, or purposefully, shape political realities for Americans.
The report said this increase in engagement for Republican parties was unique to Facebook and happened across over a thousand local parties.
Using an original data set of Facebook and Twitter posts from local Republican and Democratic parties, researchers found that local GOP Facebook content started getting higher engagement in the fall of 2018 when the algorithm was changed.
