Despitenews and analysis beg the contrary , Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims that phony news stories widely disseminated on the social electronic web during the presidential run had “ no wallop ” on the election ’s event . Hmm …
At the Techonomy Conference yesterday , Zuckerberg denied that Facebook had a pervasive role in shaping the electorate ’s views , arguing that voters make decision base off “ lived experience , ” and not societal media .
To indicate phoney word point spread on Facebook had an outsized effect on the election is “ a fairly crazy idea , ” he note , arguing that certain fake stories – like one entail Hillary Clinton in themurder of an FBI federal agent enquire her emails , among others – form a tiny portion of news apportion on the program .
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On the opposite , Zuckerberg take that literary criticism of his company was misplace , and that a misreckoning of Donald Trump ’s appeal to large swaths of the American public is what truly calculate for the election ’s disgraceful result .
" I do guess there is a sure unfathomed lack of empathy in asserting that the only reason someone could have voted the way they did is they saw some fake news , " Zuckerberg said . " If you believe that , then I do n’t think you have internalized the subject matter the Trump supporter are seek to send in this election . "
Yesterday , Facebook VP of Product Management Adam Mosseri recognise that false stories do travel far and broad on the site , andthat the company pick out it as a problem . Mosseri ’s statement comes after multiple inquiries confirmed this , include a Buzzfeed News probe that revealed a fake , pro - Trump news operation in Macedoniathat flood Facebook with false stories that gained serious traction among substance abuser .
Despite its role in shaping the bedcover of information internationally , Facebook has never lay claim it is a media society . Although its intelligence feed does reinforce an echo chamber framework in which users often reenforce their own views , Zuckerberg on Thursday said the company will act upon to reveal users to content that espouses dissimilar viewpoint and opinions .
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Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist . He ’s also a martial arts and music nerd who appreciate a fine sandwich and cute dogs . regain his clips in The Guardian , Rolling Stone , The A.V. Club and Vice . He ’s on Twitter@Blumnessmonster .
