Facebook: New feature allows users to pay to promote friends’ posts

Facebook has unveiled a controversial new feature that allows users to pay to promote friends' posts.

The feature is raising privacy concerns from critics who argue users will have "no control over which posts friends promote," the Los Angeles Times reported.

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"The user, not Facebook should control the data," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the Times.

Others, like Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, contend this is just Facebook's latest attempt to cash in on data from its users.

“Nothing is off limits to Facebook executives when it comes to turning friendships into an opportunity to make an extra buck,” Chester said.

TechCrunch reported the new feature, which Facebook hopes will help it earn revenue, began rolling out the feature in the US last October.