People think there is more Left-wing News on Facebook?

An online poll comes amid claims in US that Facebook staff working on its trending articles feature censored rightwing news.

 People in the UK from across the political spectrum think that they see more leftwing news on Facebook than stories from neutral or rightwing sources, according to a poll.The findings from an online poll come as a debate rises in the US over allegations that Facebook staff working on its trending articles feature are in fact censoring rightwing news.

However, the study also relates to the Facebook newsfeed, which prioritizes posts using a complex algorithm based on numerous inputs like how often its read, and how long one spends time to read the entire content and how much it is shared and who is sharing it etc.The way Facebook is set up means people are more likely to be connected to people with similar interests and would obviously expect to see more news from sources that reflect their own beliefs.

There are also a number of factors other than political bias within Facebook's algorithm that could be behind the poll's findings. According to data from social media, the left-leaning Guardian and the BBC regularly outperform more rightwing rivals on Facebook, including the world's largest English language news publisher the Daily Mail.

While that will be in part because of the way people interact with news stories from both sources and the content of the articles they produce, other factors, such as the technology used to deliver the articles, will also play a role in how much priority Facebook gives them.