The Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced Donald Trump’s victory in the US election.


He says he thinks it is a 'pretty crazy idea.' Zuckerberg also rhetorically asked why people would think there would be hoax stories about one candidate but not the other.

The site has been criticised for disseminating fake news stories, especially pro-Trump stories, in the days and weeks leading up the election. 


He said: 'The idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way I think is a pretty crazy idea.' 

'Voters make decisions based on their lived experience,' Zuckerberg said.

'You don't generally go wrong when you trust that people understand what they care about and what's important to them and you build systems that reflect that.'

'We just tune out,' Zuckerberg said of the pattern. 'I don't know what to do about that.'


'These elections make a real difference in the world, but it would not be right to suggest that it changes the fundamental arc of technology or progress over time,' Zuckerberg said.

'I do think there is a certain profound lack of empathy in asserting that the only reason someone could have voted the way they did is because they saw some fake news,.’

'If you believe that, then I don't think you have internalised the message that Trump supporters are trying to send in this election.' Zuckerberg said.

DailyMail.com