⁍ Facebook will start promoting content from public Facebook Groups in users’ news feeds and in search engine results.

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⁍ The move defies calls by watchdog groups to limit algorithmic recommendations ahead of U.S. elections next month.

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⁍ Facebook declined to specify when the changes would be rolled out.

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– Facebook is rolling out new ways for users to see content from public Facebook groups. In a blog post, app chief Fidji Simo said the company would start showing “related discussions” from public groups next to links and posts in users’ news feeds and in search engine results, Reuters reports. Simo said Facebook would also start showing conversations from public groups outside the app, such as in web searches. Facebook declined to specify when the changes would be rolled out, with a spokesman saying only that US tests would begin ‘in a very limited capacity’ in the coming weeks. The company, which made groups a strategic priority last year, also said it was adding new moderation tools for the more than 70 million people running those communities to help them reject posts, lead discussions, and arrange paid sponsorships. According to an internal memo seen by the Verge, the groups push this year has been a success for engagement on the Facebook app, with posts up 31.9% year over year as of August. At the same time, the company has faced a series of scandals over extremist activity within groups, including the spread of thousands of Boogaloo, QAnon, and militia groups and communities promoting health misinformation. Facebook has gradually removed some such groups and limited recommendations to others. Its new groups push comes days after Accountable Tech and a dozen other advocacy organizations called on Facebook to pause its use of group recommendations altogether until the results of the Nov. 3 elections are formally certified. The coalition accused Facebook of prioritizing groups despite red flags from researchers, warning the tools have become “hidden breeding grounds for disinformation campaigns and organizing platforms for extremists.