DHAKA: Facing criticism that fake news on Facebook aided the rise of Donald Trump, founder Mark Zuckerberg has strongly defended his network.

Speaking on stage at Techonomy, a technology conference in California, Mr Zuckerberg said Facebook should not be held responsible.

“The idea that fake news on Facebook influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea,” he said.

“If you believe that, then I don't think you have internalized the message Trump supporters are trying to send in this election”, reports the BBC

Some data has shown that fake stories were being far more widely shared on the platform than follow up stories debunking the claims.

For an increasing number of people, particularly Americans, Facebook is becoming the primary source of news coverage.

The site’s News Feed is specifically designed to show users content it thinks will be of most interest, creating what some describe as a “filter bubble” that reinforces a person’s view without injecting differences in opinion.

Earlier this year, Facebook was accused of being anti-Trump after it was alleged its human moderators were favouring liberal stories from appearing in people's “trending stories” box.

BDST: 1710 HRS, NOV 11, 2016
AP/BD