Earlier this year in February, Facebook confirmed that it was testing a new ‘Downvote’ button on the platform which would allow users to give negative feedback on comments on public page posts. Now, according to a recent report from The Next Web, the company has started rolling out the new feature to more users.
The downvote button, much like the similar feature on Reddit, will help the platform get crucial feedback about public comments by allowing users to downvote what Facebook calls “bad comments”. The company is laying its trust in the users to help it flag offensive comments on public posts.
It’s worth noting that Facebook has clarified that the new feature isn’t a dislike button, as downvoting a comment will result in it being hidden from the user’s feed. Users will also be required to give reasons for their downvote and they’ll have to choose if the comment is “offensive”, “misleading”, or “off-topic”.
The new downvote feature is just a means of letting users moderate the comments made on public posts and is expected to help Facebook stop spread of misinformation and hate speech on the platform. The feature isn’t rolling out to all users yet, with updates on Twitter revealing that a majority of people receiving the feature are from Australia and New Zealand. As of now, Facebook has released no information regarding the global roll-out of the downvote button.
