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Zuckerberg Fires Back at Trump Over Tweet

Zuckerberg also expresses regret for saying in November that fake news on Facebook influencing the election was a 'pretty crazy idea.'

Angela Moscaritolo
 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg fired back after President Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted that the social network "was always anti-Trump" and colluded with The New York Times and Washington Post to distribute "fake news."

"Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump," Zuckerberg wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. "Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like.

"Facts suggest the greatest role Facebook played in the 2016 election was different from what most are saying," Zuckerberg continued. But he expressed regret for saying in November that fake news on Facebook influencing the election was a "pretty crazy idea."

"Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it," Zuckerberg wrote. "This is too important an issue to be dismissive. But the data we have has always shown that our broader impact—from giving people a voice to enabling candidates to communicate directly to helping millions of people vote—played a far bigger role in this election."

Zuckerberg pointed out that campaigns spent "hundreds of millions advertising online to get their messages out," which he said is "1000x more than any problematic ads" Facebook has found.

Facebook earlier this month said 470 "inauthentic" accounts and Pages that "likely operated out of Russia" spent approximately $100,000 between June 2015 and May 2017 on 3,000 Facebook ads. Those ads were focused on "amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum—touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights."

Last week, Facebook provided Congress with details about those ads; it previously handed them over to Robert Mueller's special counsel, too.

Facebook is not the only social network feeling the heat. A new report from the Oxford Internet Institute finds that in a 10-day period around the time of the 2016 election, "Twitter users got more misinformation, polarizing, and conspiratorial content than professionally produced news." And "average levels of misinformation were higher in swing states than in uncontested states, even when weighted for the relative size of the user population in each state."

Twitter officials will meet with the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors today to discuss the impact of Russia-linked accounts on the election, CNN reports. Twitter, Facebook, and Google have also been invited to testify publicy before the committee on Nov. 1.

Facebook did tangle with conservatives last year when its Trending Topics editors were accused of suppressing content from conservative outlets. Facebook invited conservatives to its headquarters to discuss the issue, and later replaced human Trending editors with algorithms.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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