Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday the social media website would focus on promoting local news

"Starting today, we're going to show more stories from news sources in your local town or city," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. "If you follow a local publisher or if someone shares a local story, it may show up higher in News Feed."

The update will be first rolled out in the United States and expanded to more countries later this year, Zuckerberg said.

The company has been making a series of changes to its website, following criticism that its algorithms may have prioritized misleading news and misinformation in people's feeds.

The company recently made changes to News Feed to prioritize what friends and family share, while reducing the amount of non-advertising content from publishers and brands.