In response to a surge of misinformation on its platform after the election, Facebook Inc. reportedly made changes to its algorithm to favor more reliable news sources.

According to a report published in the New York Times today, after the election, staff at Facebook told Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg that they were seeing an alarming rise in misinformation on the platform — a lot of media outlets claiming that the election had been rigged in favor of Joe Biden. Emergency action needed to be taken, according to the report.

That action involved looking at something called, “news ecosystem quality,” which is a “secret” system that Facebook uses to rank media. According to people familiar with the system, it doesn’t usually play a big role in what appears in people’s news feeds. But after the surge of misinformation, Zuckerberg gave the green light to increase its function.

The upshot was that more people saw content from media such as NPR, The Times and CNN, and saw less of more partisan media that often pushes one angle of a story. It was also reported that some staff at Facebook asked if the change couldn’t be made permanent, talking about a “nicer new feed.” Facebook hasn’t admitted or denied it tweaked the algorithm.

“There are many variables at play in every product decision we make, all aimed at creating the best possible experience for people,” the company told The Verge. “The assertions in this report are based on sources who have no product decision-making authority and are advancing their own narrow impression of how our process works.”

If it’s true, the news is sure to draw attention from those people who say Facebook deliberately demotes some stories and has at times showed a bias against conservative views. That might impel more members of Congress to call for changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

No doubt it will come up the next time Zuckerberg has to answer some serious questions about how his company deals with political content. Then again, there are plenty of people who would be in favor of a nicer news feed.

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