Up to public to judge politician ads, Zuckerberg says in latest Facebook defence
Facebook chief drawn to decision to allow political ads on Facebook once again as elections loom.
Mark Zuckerberg has continued to defend Facebook’s stance on political advertising, saying the public should be able to judge “the character of politicians” for themselves.
The social network faces increased scrutiny for allowing political adverts to remain on its platform, as the UK prepares to go the polls next week and with a US president election on the horizon.
Speaking to the CBS This Morning programme, the Facebook chief was confronted on the subject once again, amid ongoing concern about the spread of misinformation.
The tech entrepreneur said it is a “very complex issue”, and believes people should be able to see what politicians have to say.
“And, you know, I don’t think that a private company should be censoring politicians or news.”
When asked where ads should be allowed even if they contain false information, he responded: “I think that people should be able to judge for themselves the character of politicians.”
Mr Zuckerberg’s defence comes after his company decided to pull adverts by the Conservative Party which used edited versions of BBC footage.
The corporation told the social network that the adverts – featuring edited clips of BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg and newsreader Huw Edwards – infringed on its intellectual property rights.
