October 1, 2017 Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for Facebook’s negative effects, posting a message to mark the Jewish Yom […]
October 1, 2017
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for Facebook’s negative effects, posting a message to mark the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday on Saturday in a year in which the social network has come under fire for spreading misinformation.
“Tonight concludes Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews when we reflect on the past year and ask forgiveness for our mistakes. For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better. For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better. May we all be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
Though Zuckerberg did not say to what he was referring, some speculated that he meant the use of Facebook in last year’s election in which at least 3,000 ads on the Facebook site had been placed by a Russian agency to influence the 2016 presidential election. The discovery of the ads came after months of denial by Zuckerberg that Facebook played any role in influencing US voters.
In addition, an investigative news website recently discovered that it was possible to target ads at Facebook users who expressed interest in subjects such as “Jew hater” and “how to burn Jews.” Facebook removed the categories after being alerted to their existence and said it would seek to prevent such categories from popping up for potential advertisers.