Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg Thursday tried to distance himself from a report that his company suppressed internal research on Russian misinformation campaigns and had hired a right-wing lobbying firm that used propaganda tactics to deflect negative attention and discredit the social media giant's critics.
Zuckerberg said he and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg didn't even know about Facebook's relationship with lobbying firm Definers Public Affairs until the New York Times published its report Wednesday. That lobbyist "is not the kind of thing I want Facebook associated with," he said in a conference call.
Zuckerberg also reiterated that Facebook has struggled to get a handle on the spread of misinformation and propaganda on its platform but is working in good faith to do so. "We certainly stumbled along the way, but to suggest that we weren't interested in knowing the truth ... is simply untrue," he said.
The New York Times' report said Zuckerberg and Sandberg ignored and tried to hide red flags signaling that Facebook's platform could be used to sow discord, promote false narratives and manipulate people _ for example, by Russia before the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
At the same time, according to the report, Facebook went on the offensive in Washington. It said Sandberg embarked on old-fashioned lobbying rounds, wheels greased by large campaign contributions to key legislative allies.
Behind the scenes, the report said, the company hired Definers Public Affairs to discredit critics _ in one instance by linking them to billionaire George Soros, who backs progressive political causes and is a frequent subject of right-wing conspiracy theories _ and shift negative attention to Facebook's corporate rivals using some of the same propaganda tactics as the misinformation peddlers that Facebook says it's fighting.
On Thursday morning, Facebook announced it cut ties with Definers, while disputing that it had hired the firm to spread misinformation.
"The New York Times is wrong to suggest that we have ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook's behalf, or communicate anything untrue," the company said in the statement.
Zuckerberg said Nick Clegg, the former U.K. deputy prime minister who was recently hired as Facebook's head of global affairs, will oversee a review of the company's relationships with lobbying firms.
