Mark Zuckerberg Begs for Forgiveness After Facebook Accused of Influencing Election

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently made a post to social media begging for forgiveness over accusations that Facebook may have influenced the 2016 election.

The Hill reports that Mark Zuckerberg took to Facebook this week to beg for forgiveness for the role that his social media platform may have played in getting President Trump elected. In a post on his personal Facebook page, Zuckerberg discussed the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, “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,” said Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg continued to say, “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.” This seems to be a reference to recent accusations that Facebook was used to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election after it was revealed that Russian sources had purchased approximately $100,000 worth of Facebook ads discussing a range of topics, reportedly designed to cause arguments and sow division amongst Facebook users.

“May we all be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life,” said Zuckerberg ending his Facebook post. Facebook has handed over the Russian-linked ads to Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee who are currently investigating Russian interference in the election. Zuckerberg has also stated that the advertisements would be handed over to Congress for review. “I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity,” said Zuckerberg. “I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy — that’s not what we stand for.”

Zuckerberg discussed the decision to hand the ads to Congress for review saying, “As a general rule, we are limited in what we can discuss publicly about law enforcement investigations, so we may not always be able to share our findings publicly.” Zuckerberg continued, “but we support Congress in deciding how to best use this information to inform the public, and we expect the government to publish its findings when their investigation is complete.”