Facebook to Expand Its Local News Feature Beyond US

Facebook said on Monday it would expand its local news push beyond the United States to provide users with more stories from local sources covering their current cities and other cities of interest.

In January, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had announced the changes globally that first rolled out in the United States and would expand to a global audience.

The changes come amid allegations that the British consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly gained access to Facebook users' information to build profiles of American voters that were later used to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016.

Facebook also faces criticism that its algorithms may have prioritised misleading news in people's feeds.

Separately, executives from Apple and IBM Corp have called for more oversight on how personal data is used following the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Speaking at the three-day China Development Forum in Beijing, Apple chief Tim Cook said "well-crafted" regulation was required, while IBM Corp chief Virginia Rometty said users should have more agency over their own data.

"It's clear to me that something, some large profound change is needed," said Apple chief Tim Cook on Saturday.

"I'm personally not a big fan of regulation because sometimes regulation can have unexpected consequences to it, however I think this certain situation is so dire, and has become so large, that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary," said Cook, who co-chaired the event this year.

© Thomson Reuters 2018