Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth fell seven percent to $49 billion immediately following the shock election of Donald Trump in 2016, according to Forbes .
Mark Zuckerberg says “no,” he won’t run for president https://t.co/d81ZNUMq5Q pic.twitter.com/rsppMiIxIw
— The Verge (@verge) January 24, 2017
It is likely that this dramatic fall in net worth came about at least partly due to the allegations that Facebook’s proliferation of “fake news” was partly responsible for Hillary Clinton’s election loss. Mark Zuckerberg has addressed the issue of Facebook’s fake news influencing the outcome of the U.S. election, according to The Guardian . Facebook received a fair share of criticism during and after the U.S. Presidential campaign, leading to the dramatic fall in Zuckerberg’s net worth .
After Donald Trump’s surprise victory, many people blamed Facebook for the mind-blowing outcome of the 2016 U.S. election. But Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t agree with the accusations that the spread of hoax stories on Facebook affected the result of the Presidential election.
Shortly after the results were announced, Mark Zuckerberg took to his Facebook page to share his opinion about the accusations. The social network’s founder argued that “more than 99%” of all stories on Facebook are “authentic,” while there is only “a very small amount” of hoax news.
https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10103253901916271
“The hoaxes that do exist are not limited to one partisan view, or even to politics. Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other.”
Nonetheless, Mark Zuckerberg promised to adopt new measures to tackle hoax stories spread on his social network “soon.” The 32-year-old Facebook chief also added that at Facebook, they see their goal to “show people the content they will find most meaningful, and people want accurate news.”
Even former U.S. President Barack Obama has previously slammed Facebook for the spread of fake stories. And while Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t necessarily agree that Facebook’s hoax stories are to blame for Donald Trump being elected the new American President, the social network’s chief still promises to enable Facebook’s community to flag fake news.
Mark Zuckerberg kicks off his Year of Travel by doing charity work in Dallas | https://t.co/YOQO4mz1UH pic.twitter.com/djGYs615QT
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) January 17, 2017
By way of example, just days before the Election Day, there was a fake report claiming that an FBI agent investigating Hillary Clinton’s email scandal had committed suicide. While many agree that the scandal repelled a fair share of the Democratic candidate’s voters, hoax news spread on Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platform served as an additional blow to Clinton’s campaign.
However, Mark Zuckerberg argues that Facebook has “made progress” and that they continue to improve further in order to eliminate the spread of hoax news on the social network.
Mark Zuckerberg has long been thought to be a Trump supporter, and Engadget reported one example of Facebook imposing a temporary ban on a journalist, Kevin Sessums, after he posted a comment in which he called Trump supporters “a nasty, fascistic lot.”
The reporter later took to Instagram to post about his experience.
While many believe that Mark Zuckerberg may be a closeted Donald Trump supporter , the founder of Facebook took to his social network to reflect on the Republican candidate’s surprise victory, according to Us Magazine .
The day Trump was declared the new U.S. President, Mark Zuckerberg posted his thoughts about the election alongside a photo of himself with his 11-month-old daughter, Max.
“Last night was Max’s first election. She’s got a lot of election nights ahead of her.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10103245877492281&set=a.529237706231.2034669.4&type=3&theater
Mark Zuckerberg also added that holding his daughter, he “thought about all the work ahead of us” to create “the world we want” for the next generations. Zuckerberg also played down the importance of the presidential election, saying that creating the world “we want” is “bigger” than any presidency.
Mark Zuckerberg also happily added that there is a lot of work to be done in his daughter’s lifetime. The Facebook founder has previously vowed to cure all disease, improve education around the world, and promote equal opportunities for everyone by the end of this century.
“We are all blessed to have the ability to make the world better, and we have the responsibility to do it. Let’s go work even harder.”
He promised to rid @facebook of fake news but Mark Zuckerberg’s posts may not be all that they seem https://t.co/Ah68sblfHM pic.twitter.com/oWYLzX8HVR
— The Times of London (@thetimes) January 20, 2017
Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla welcomed their daughter Max on November 30, 2015. Ever since his daughter was born, the Facebook founder has documented her life. Last December, Zuckerberg shared a photo of himself changing Max’s diapers for the first time.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]