NEW from me: some light holiday reading about Joel Kaplan, one of the most controversial & influential executives at Facebook, & his growing ability to kill, postpone & shape $fb products that risk making conservatives angry. wsj.com/articles/faceb…
For example: Until recently, $fb was exploring news-feed products to fight polarization. 1 reason it stalled: fears of anti-conservative bias after $fb research showed right-leaning users were less exposed to different points of view than those on the L. wsj.com/articles/faceb… 
Kaplan is v involved in news-feed ranking changes, esp those around fake news, I’m told. He’s also argued that $FB should allow @DailyCaller’s fact-checking unit to join $fb’s fact-checking program. That was hugely controversial internally. wsj.com/articles/faceb…
$fb wouldn’t make Kaplan available to chat, but other senior execs said the policy’s increased involvement in product is about managing risk — and something employees are still getting used to. wsj.com/articles/faceb…
BTW, if Kaplan sounds familiar, it’s bc he’s the $fb exec who sat behind Kavanaugh during his hearings about sexual misconduct allegations. (wsj.com/articles/zucke…) Employees were / remain angry abt his appearance; some directly confronted him abt it. wsj.com/articles/faceb…
More on Kaplan & his imprint on $fb in this great thread by @hshaban.
