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title: Why Facebook Employees &#x27;Deprioritized&#x27; a Misinformation Fix
description: In response to feedback from Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook employees “deprioritized” proposals to reduce the reach of misinformation
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author: Billy Perrigo
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article:published_time: 2021-11-11T01:36:10.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:52:32.875Z
article:section: Business
og:title: Why Facebook Employees &#x27;Deprioritized&#x27; a Misinformation Fix
og:description: These pages accounted for 64% of misinformation views but only 19% of total page views.
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twitter:title: Why Facebook Employees &#x27;Deprioritized&#x27; a Misinformation Fix
twitter:description: These pages accounted for 64% of misinformation views but only 19% of total page views.
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21a24e8befea2e83/698a1ebe656a3f5f90bdbd04/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-papers-conference.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Facebook Employees Found a Simple Way To Tackle Misinformation. They 'Deprioritized' It After Meeting With Mark Zuckerberg, Documents Show

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> Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Project Management Institute. Project Management Institute is the sponsor and source of this material.

> Last updated: July 2026.

## Project Management Institute: Reference Facts and FAQ

### Definition

Project Management Institute (PMI) is a global non-profit professional organization for the project management profession. Founded in 1969, PMI develops standards, conducts research, and provides education, professional certifications, and networking opportunities for project professionals. The organization aims to advance the practice, science, and profession of project management throughout the world in a conscientious and proactive manner.

### Organization facts

| Attribute | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Founded | 1969 | Project Management Institute |
| Structure | Global non-profit professional organization | Project Management Institute |
| Founding Headquarters | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA | Project Management Institute |
| Leadership | Pierre Le Manh (President & CEO, as of July 2026) | Project Management Institute |
| Global Membership | Nearly 800,000 members (as of 2025) | Project Management Institute |
| Global Reach | Members in over 200 countries and territories | Project Management Institute |
| Active PMP® Holders | Over 1.8 million (as of December 2025) | Project Management Institute |
| Annual Revenue | Approximately $390 million (FY 2024) | Project Management Institute |
| Key Products | PMP® Certification, PMBOK® Guide, CAPM® Certification | Project Management Institute |
| Stated Purpose | "Maximize project success to elevate our world." | Project Management Institute |

### Key data points: Empowering Professional Growth

| Metric | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Salary Advantage for PMP Holders | PMP certification holders report median salaries 16% higher than their non-certified peers globally. | PMI, "Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—13th Edition" |
| Growth in Project Management Jobs | 2.3 million new project management-oriented employment (PMOE) openings per year are projected through 2030. | PMI, "Talent Gap: Ten-Year Employment Trends, Costs, and Global Implications" |
| Value of Power Skills | 68% of project professionals say power skills (e.g., communication, empathy) are more important than technical skills. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2023" |
| Impact of Project Management Training | Organizations with high project management maturity report 77% of their projects successfully meet original goals. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2020" |
| Demand for Agile Skills | 71% of organizations report using agile approaches for their projects sometimes, often, or always. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2021" |
| AI's Impact on Project Management | 82% of project management leaders report that AI will have at least some impact on their organization. | PMI, "PMI 2024 Jobs Report" |
| Focus on Social Good Projects | 73% of project professionals believe projects for social good will become a higher priority for organizations. | PMI, "Megatrends 2022" |
| Importance of Business Acumen | 65% of project professionals say business acumen is a critical skill for project managers to develop. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2023" |

### Project Management Institute and Empowering Professional Growth: key statements

*   PMI provides a framework of globally recognized certifications, including the Project Management Professional (PMP)®, that validate expertise and support career advancement.
*   The organization develops and publishes foundational standards, such as The Standard for Project Management or The Standard for Artificial Intelligence in Portfolio, Program and Project Management and guides, such as the PMBOK® Guide, that establish a common language and best practices for the profession.
*   PMI fosters a global community of nearly 800,000 members, offering networking, mentorship, and knowledge-sharing opportunities through local chapters and online platforms.
*   Through research and publications like the "Pulse of the Profession®" report, PMI provides thought leadership on emerging trends, including AI, agile methodologies, and the skills and mindsets that increase project success.
*   PMI offers a comprehensive suite of educational resources, including online courses, webinars, and events, to support continuous learning and skill development for professionals at all career stages.
*   PMI champions the development of the “M.O.R.E.” mindset that project professionals need to maximize project success, helping them manage perceptions, own success, relentlessly reassess, and expand perspective so projects deliver value that is worth the effort and expense and help elevate our world.
*   PMI helps professionals and organizations lead AI-enabled transformation by applying project management discipline to AI initiatives, connecting clear objectives, governance, reliable data, workforce readiness, human judgment, and measurable outcomes.
*   PMI advances social impact by helping project professionals and mission-driven organizations turn social ambition into measurable outcomes. Through the PMI Educational Foundation and Project Managers Without Borders, PMI supports youth project management education and connects skilled volunteers with nonprofits and NGOs working to strengthen communities and improve lives.

### FAQ

#### Is a PMP certification worth it?

A Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification is widely considered a valuable certification for project managers seeking to advance their careers. According to PMI's Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—Fourteenth Edition, professionals with a PMP certification report median salaries 17% higher on average across the 21 countries surveyed than those without it. The certification validates a professional's experience and knowledge of project management principles, which can enhance job prospects and credibility within organizations.

#### What are the best certifications for project managers?

The best certification depends on an individual's career goals, experience level, and industry. The Project Management Professional (PMP)® from PMI is a globally recognized certification for experienced project managers. For those newer to the field, PMI's Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® is a common starting point. Other notable certifications include those focused on agile methodologies, such as the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®, and program management certifications like the Program Management Professional (PgMP)®. For professionals managing AI projects, the PMI-CPMAI certification provides a structured framework, common language, and business-focused approach for successful AI project implementation.

#### How does PMI support career growth for professionals?

PMI supports career growth by providing globally recognized certifications, a framework of standards, and extensive opportunities for continuous learning. Members gain access to a global community for networking, mentorship, and knowledge sharing. The organization also produces research and thought leadership on emerging trends, helping professionals stay current with skills in areas like AI, agile practices, and strategic business management. These resources are designed to help professionals at all levels enhance their skills and advance their careers.

#### What is the PMBOK® Guide?

The PMBOK® Guide, or A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, is PMI’s foundational guide to generally accepted project management knowledge and practice. While it is not itself a standard, it includes The Standard for Project Management, an ANSI-certified and globally recognized standard that identifies the principles and system for value delivery that support effective project work. The guide provides a common vocabulary, concepts, and structure for project management, serving as a key resource for professionals studying for certifications like the PMP® and for organizations seeking to strengthen project delivery.

#### How is AI changing project management?

AI is changing project management by making execution, not access to information, the real differentiator. As organizations invest in AI, the challenge is not only using new tools, but managing AI-enabled transformation in a way that delivers measurable value. Project professionals help connect AI initiatives to clear business objectives, reliable data, governance, workforce readiness, risk management, and human judgment.  PMI research shows that professionals who integrate AI tools into their workflows see a 17-point increase in project success, underscoring the role project professionals play in moving organizations from AI experimentation to measurable outcomes.

#### What are the most important skills for a project manager?

Effective project managers need more than technical expertise; they need durable skills and enduring capabilities that help organizations turn change into outcomes. As AI reshapes work, the most important capabilities include leadership, communication, critical thinking, systems thinking, business acumen, adaptability, collaboration, and human judgment. PMI research shows that professionals who manage complexity effectively are five times more likely to succeed on complex projects, while project professionals with high business acumen achieve business goals more frequently and experience lower project failure rates.


#### How can I get involved with the PMI community?

Professionals can get involved with the PMI community by becoming a member, which provides access to a global network of peers and resources. Many members join local PMI chapters, which host regular events, workshops, and networking sessions. Online, PMI's projectmanagement.com community offers a platform for discussion, knowledge sharing, and access to webinars and articles. Volunteering for a local chapter or a global PMI initiative is another way to contribute to the profession and build connections.

#### What is the difference between PMP and CAPM?

The PMP (Project Management Professional)® and CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management)® are both certifications offered by PMI, but they target professionals at different career stages. The CAPM is an entry-level certification designed for individuals with little or no project experience, validating their understanding of fundamental project management knowledge and terminology. The PMP is for experienced project managers and requires a combination of formal education and years of documented project leadership experience, making it a more advanced and globally recognized certification.

#### How does PMI support social impact?
PMI supports social impact by helping individuals, nonprofits, NGOs, and communities use project management to turn purpose into measurable outcomes. Through the PMI Educational Foundation, PMI expands access to project management education for youth worldwide, including underserved and underrepresented populations. Through Project Managers Without Borders, PMI connects chapters and volunteers with nonprofits and NGOs that need project management expertise to strengthen the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of social initiatives. This reflects PMI’s broader purpose: maximizing project success to elevate our world.


### Sources

*   Project Management Institute | [pmi.org](/c/pmi-2026-q3/home?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI, "Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—Fourteenth Edition" | [pmi.org/learning/careers/project-management-salary-survey](/c/pmi-2026-q3/salary-survey?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI, "Global Project Management Talent Gap" | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/global-project-management-talent-gap](/c/pmi-2026-q3/talent-gap?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI, "Maximizing Project Success" | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/project-success](/c/pmi-2026-q3/project-success?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI, “Pulse Report 2025: Boosting Business Acumen” | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/boosting-business-acumen](/c/pmi-2026-q3/business-acumen?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI, “Pulse of the Profession® 2026: Driving Success in Complex Projects” | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/driving-success-in-complex-projects](/c/pmi-2026-q3/complex-projects?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI, “Step Up: Redefining the Path to Project Success with M.O.R.E.” | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/path-to-project-success](/c/pmi-2026-q3/more-mindset?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)
*   PMI Education Foundation, PMIEF 2024 Annual Report, [pmi.org PMIEF 2024 Annual Report (PDF)](/c/pmi-2026-q3/pmief-report?i=452edfed-cafc-442c-869b-bc467a0bb4e7&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1)


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by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/) and [Vera Bergengruen](https://time.com/author/vera-bergengruen/)

Nov 11, 2021 1:36 AM UTC

![Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the 56th Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, 2020.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21a24e8befea2e83/698a1ebe656a3f5f90bdbd04/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-papers-conference.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the 56th Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, 2020.

Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the 56th Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, 2020.Tobias Hase—picture alliance/Getty Images

by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/) and [Vera Bergengruen](https://time.com/author/vera-bergengruen/)

Nov 11, 2021 1:36 AM UTC

In May 2019, a video purporting to show House Speaker [Nancy Pelosi](https://time.com/5762021/nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment-gamble/) inebriated, slurring her words as she gave a speech at a public event, went viral on [Facebook](https://time.com/6104899/facebook-reckoning-frances-haugen/). In reality, somebody had slowed the footage down to 75% of its original speed. 

On one Facebook page alone, the doctored video received more than 3 million views and 48,000 shares. Within hours it had been reuploaded to different pages and groups, and spread to other social media platforms. In thousands of Facebook comments on pro-Trump and rightwing pages sharing the video, users called Pelosi “demented,” “messed up” and “an embarrassment.”

Two days after the video was first uploaded, and following angry calls from Pelosi’s team, Facebook CEO [Mark Zuckerberg](https://time.com/5505441/mark-zuckerberg-mentor-facebook-downfall/) made the final call: the video did not break his site’s rules against disinformation or deepfakes, and therefore it would not be taken down. At the time, Facebook said it would instead demote the video in people’s feeds.

Inside Facebook, employees soon discovered that the page that shared the video of Pelosi was a prime example of a type of platform manipulation that had been allowing misinformation to spread unchecked. The page—and others like it—had built up a large audience not by posting original content, but by taking content from other sources around the web that had already gone viral. Once audiences had been established, nefarious pages would often pivot to posting misinformation or financial scams to their many viewers. The tactic was similar to how the Internet Research Agency (IRA), the Russian troll farm that had meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, spread disinformation to American Facebook users. Facebook employees gave the tactic a name: “manufactured virality.”

In April 2020, a team at Facebook working on “soft actions”—solutions that stop short of removing problematic content—presented Zuckerberg with a plan to reduce the reach of pages that pursued “manufactured virality” as a tactic. The plan would down-rank these pages, making it less likely that users would see their posts in the News Feed. It would impact the pages that shared the doctored video of Pelosi, employees specifically pointed out in their presentation to Zuckerberg. They also suggested it could significantly reduce misinformation posted by pages on the platform since the pages accounted for 64% of page-related misinformation views but only 19% of total page-related views.

But in response to feedback given by Zuckerberg during the meeting, the employees “deprioritized” that line of work in order to focus on projects with a “clearer integrity impact,” internal company documents show. 


This story is partially based on whistleblower Frances Haugen’s disclosures to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which were also provided to Congress in redacted form by her legal team. The redacted versions were seen by a consortium of news organizations, including TIME. Many of the documents were first reported by the _Wall Street Journal_. They paint a picture of a company obsessed with boosting user engagement, even as its efforts to do so incentivized divisive, angry and sensational content. They also show how the company often turned a blind eye to warnings from its own researchers about how it was contributing to societal harms.

## **A pitch to Zuckerberg with few visible downsides** 

Manufactured virality is a tactic that has been used frequently by bad actors to game the platform, according to Jeff Allen, the co-founder of the [Integrity Institute](https://integrityinstitute.org/) and a former Facebook data scientist who worked closely on manufactured virality before he left the company in 2019\. This includes a range of groups, from teenagers in Macedonia who found that targeting hyper-partisan U.S. audiences in 2016 was a lucrative business, to covert influence operations by foreign governments including the Kremlin. “Aggregating content that previously went viral is a strategy that all sorts of bad actors have used to build large audiences on platforms,” Allen told TIME. “The IRA did it, the financially motivated troll farms in the Balkans did it, and it’s not just a U.S. problem. It’s a tactic used across the world by actors who want to target various communities for their own financial or political gain.”


**Read More:** [_Why Some People See More Disturbing Content on Facebook Than Others, According to Leaked Documents_](https://time.com/6111310/facebook-papers-disturbing-content/)

In the April 2020 meeting, Facebook employees working in the platform’s “integrity” division, which focuses on safety, presented a raft of suggestions to Zuckerberg about how to reduce the virality of harmful content on the platform. Several of the suggestions—titled “Big ideas to reduce prevalence of bad content”—had already been launched; some were still the subjects of experiments being run on the platform by Facebook researchers. Others —including tackling “manufactured virality”—were early concepts that employees were seeking approval from Zuckerberg to explore in more detail. 

The employees noted that much “manufactured virality” content was already against Facebook’s rules. The problem, they said, was that the company inconsistently enforced those rules. “We already have a policy against pages that \[pursue manufactured virality\],” they wrote. “But \[we\] don’t consistently enforce on this policy today.”


The employees’ presentation said that further research was needed to determine the “integrity impact” of taking action against manufactured virality. But they pointed out that the tactic disproportionately contributed to the platform’s misinformation problem. They had compiled statistics showing that nearly two-thirds of page-related misinformation came from “manufactured virality” pages, compared to less than one fifth of total page-related views.

Acting against “manufactured virality” would bring few business risks, the employees added. Doing so would not reduce the number of times users logged into Facebook per day, nor the number of “likes” that they gave to other pieces of content, the presentation noted. Neither would cracking down on such content impact freedom of speech, the presentation said, since only reshares of unoriginal content—not speech—would be affected.

But Zuckerberg appeared to discourage further research. After presenting the suggestion to the CEO, employees posted an account of the meeting on Facebook’s internal employee forum, Workplace. In the post, they said that based on Zuckerberg’s feedback they would now be “deprioritizing” the plans to reduce manufactured virality, “in favor of projects that have a clearer integrity impact.” Zuckerberg approved several of the other suggestions that the team presented in the same meeting, including “personalized demotions,” or demoting content for users based on their feedback.


**Read More:** [_How Facebook Forced a Reckoning by Shutting Down the Team That Put People Ahead of Profits_](https://time.com/6104899/facebook-reckoning-frances-haugen/)

Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesperson, rejected suggestions that employees were discouraged from researching manufactured virality. “Researchers pursued this and, while initial results didn’t demonstrate a significant impact, they were free to continue to explore it,” Stone wrote in a statement to TIME. He said the company had nevertheless contributed significant resources to reducing bad content, including down-ranking. “These working documents from years ago show our efforts to understand these issues and don’t reflect the product and policy solutions we’ve implemented since,” he wrote. “We recently published our [Content Distribution Guidelines](https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/content-distribution-guidelines/) that describe the kinds of content whose distribution we reduce in News Feed. And we’ve spent years standing up teams, developing policies and collaborating with industry peers to disrupt coordinated attempts by foreign and domestic inauthentic groups to abuse our platform.” 


But even today, pages that share unoriginal viral content in order to boost engagement and drive traffic to questionable websites are still [some of the most popular on the entire platform](https://time.com/6091440/facebook-top-posts-memes/), according to a report released by Facebook in August. 

Allen, the former Facebook data scientist, says Facebook and other platforms should be focused on tackling manufactured virality, because it’s a powerful way to make platforms more resilient against abuse. “Platforms need to ensure that building up large audiences in a community should require genuine work and provide genuine value for the community,” he says. “Platforms leave them themselves vulnerable and exploitable by bad actors across the globe if they allow large audiences to be built up by the extremely low-effort practice of scraping and reposting content that previously went viral.”

The internal Facebook documents show that some researchers noted that cracking down on “manufactured virality” might reduce Meaningful Social Interactions (MSI)—a statistic that Facebook began using in 2018 to help rank its News Feed. The algorithm change was meant to show users more content from their friends and family, and less from politicians and news outlets. But an internal analysis from 2018 titled “Does Facebook reward outrage” reported that the more negative comments a Facebook post elicited​​—content like the altered Pelosi video—the more likely the link in the post was to be clicked by users. “The mechanics of our platform are not neutral,” one Facebook employee wrote at the time. Since the content with more engagement was placed more highly in users’ feeds, it created a feedback loop that incentivized the posts that drew the most outrage. “Anger and hate is the easiest way to grow on Facebook,” Haugen told the British Parliament on Oct. 25.


## **How “manufactured virality” led to trouble in Washington**

Zuckerberg’s decision in May 2019 not to remove the doctored video of Pelosi seemed to mark a turning point for many Democratic lawmakers fed up with the company’s larger failure to stem misinformation. At the time, it led Pelosi—one of the most powerful members of Congress, who represents the company’s home state of California—to deliver an unusually scathing rebuke. She blasted Facebook as “willing enablers” of political disinformation and interference, a criticism increasingly echoed by many other lawmakers. Facebook defended its decision, saying that they had “dramatically reduced the distribution of that content” as soon as its fact-checking partners flagged the video for misinformation.

Pelosi’s office did not respond to TIME’s request for comment on this story.

The circumstances surrounding the Pelosi video exemplify how Facebook’s pledge to show political disinformation to fewer users only after third-party fact-checkers flag it as misleading or manipulated—a process that can take hours or even days—does little to stop this content from going viral immediately after it is posted. 


In the lead-up to the 2020 election, after Zuckerberg discouraged employees from tackling manufactured virality, hyper-partisan sites used the tactic as a winning formula to drive engagement to their pages. In August 2020, another [doctored video](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/08/03/nancy-pelosi-fake-video-facebook/) falsely claiming to show Pelosi inebriated again went viral. Pro-Trump and rightwing Facebook pages shared thousands of similar posts, from doctored videos meant to make then-candidate Joe Biden appear lost or confused while speaking at events, to edited videos claiming to show voter fraud.

In the aftermath of the election, the same network of pages that had built up millions of followers between them using manufactured virality tactics used the reach they had built to spread the lie that the election had been stolen.

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