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Facebook’s Zuckerberg: ‘Crazy idea’ that fake news posts influenced election

http://dtn.fm/0Njah

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday fought back against accusations that the social network harmed political discourse this year by allowing fake news to flourish on the platform.

“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 a conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

He also said the company exposed its 1.8 billion monthly users to various views, countering the criticism that Facebook has created a “filter bubble” of like-minded people. He said the content is out there — but users don’t click on it.

The surprise triumph of Trump has sparked considerable debate about the role of social media in shaping the race’s often toxic and divisive rhetoric. Critics say the company needs to do more to ensure that fake news doesn’t spread rapidly on across the social network, potentially misinforming voters. Zuckerberg said that argument reflected a lack of empathy for why voters favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. “Why would you think fake news would be on one side, but not on the other?” he said.