Facebook is exploring the "downvote" button as a way for users to notify the social media site about "inappropriate, uncivil, or misleading" comments, a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
The new button is currently being tested on a limited set of comment reels on public page posts, where it appears as a "downvote" option alongside the "like" and "reply" buttons.
Once selected, the button will hide a comment and offer the user the additional option to report it.
"We are not testing a dislike button," Facebook said in a statement, according to TechCrunch. "We are exploring a feature for people to give us feedback about comments on public page posts. This is running for a small set of people in the U.S. only."
The "downvote" button will not affect a comment, post or page's ranking, TechCrunch noted, and it will not showcase a publicly visible count, so other users will not be able to see if a comment has been "downvoted."
The short-term test is allegedly running for 5 percent of Android users in the U.S. with the language being set to English.
Facebook first began experimenting with a "dislike" button in 2015, which eventually led to the feature allowing Facebook users to react to a comment with different emotions, CNBC reported.
This new test may be part of a broader initiative in which Facebook seeks to streamline its content and promote more "meaningful" posts to users, The Verge noted.
"Recently we've gotten feedback from our community that public content -- posts from businesses, brands and media -- is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post in January detailing changes to be made to the site.
"You'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people."
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