Purportedly with the aim of weeding out "fake news" and "foreign meddling" in elections.

If that plan, reported by Bloomberg, sounds sinister, that's because it is. For what it means is that people who share the same worldview as US intelligence agencies, the agencies who formulate classified information, will have a direct bearing on what millions of consumers on Facebook are permitted to access.

It's as close to outright US government censorship on the internet as one can dare to imagine, and this on a nominally independent global communication network. Your fun-loving place "where friends meet."

Welcome to Facespook!

As Bloomberg reports: "Workers with such [national security] clearances can access information classified by the US government. Facebook plans to use these people – and their ability to receive government information about potential threats – in the company's attempt to search more proactively for questionable social media campaigns ahead of elections."