Zuckerberg Denies Facebook Spread 'Fake News' To Tilt Election

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Email Reddit Telegram

Mark Zuckerberg has turned his back on critics who say his company’s news feed algorithm helped tilt the U.S. election result by spreading ‘fake’ news stories.

Facebook’s CEO strongly defended his social media network by stating that in fact there are not enough people using Facebook news to stay better informed and connected.

To suggest that a small amount of “fake news” influenced the election is “a pretty crazy idea” says Zuckerberg.

BYPASS THE CENSORS

You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

Fox News reports:

“Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook—of which it’s a very small amount of the content—influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea,” Zuckerberg said at conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Zuckerberg added that Facebook exposed its more than 1 billion monthly users to various views across the political spectrum and dismissed criticism that the social network created a bubble of like-minded people. Facebook and Twitter had played a big role in how people received their news during the election cycle.

Zuckerberg said the initial research shows that a filter bubble wasn’t created and the site offers a “wide-range of perspectives.”

“Right now the problem isn’t that diverse information isn’t there…but we haven’t gotten people to engage with it in higher proportions,” he said.

Zuckerberg said Facebook was still weighing “newsworthiness as a higher part of the community guidelines.” The comment comes after President-elect Donald Trump’s posts calling for a Muslim ban technically violated the site’s rules for hate speech, according to The Wall Street Journal.