Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to the backlash the social network has received for its perceived role in Donald Trump?s victory in the presidential election.
Allegations have been flying about Facebook influencing the outcome of the election due to an abundance of fake news stories and hoaxes in its News Feed.
Zuckerberg posted (embedded below):
I want to share some thoughts on Facebook and the election.
Our goal is to give every person a voice. We believe deeply in people. Assuming that people understand what is important in their lives and that they can express those views has driven not only our community, but democracy overall. Sometimes when people use their voice, though, they say things that seem wrong and they support people you disagree with. After the election, many people are asking whether fake news contributed to the result, and what our responsibility is to prevent fake news from spreading. These are very important questions, and I care deeply about getting them right. I want to do my best to explain what we know here.
Of all the content on Facebook, more than 99 percent of what people see is authentic. Only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes. The hoaxes that do exist are not limited to one partisan view, or even to politics. Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other.
That said, we don’t want any hoaxes on Facebook. Our goal is to show people the co...