Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times on Tuesday that social media company and its users believe the paper is biased.
Zuckerberg gave a surprise interview to editors and executives and outlined Facebook’s plans to fight fake news and hate speech, revealing that he would present users with news articles from across the political spectrum.
Joe Kahn from the New York Times was reportedly “freaked out” that Facebook would be rating news outlets on partisanship before declaring that the Times is a nonpartisan organization.
“[Kahn] and others argued that their publications aren’t on a political spectrum,” Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson reported. “He said they are institutions designed to report the truth.”
Zuckerberg responded with quite the smackdown and reminded NYT how everyday Americans view their publication.
“Zuckerberg said that may be how news media organizations view themselves, but Facebook and its users believe opinion has gotten mixed in with news,” Carlson wrote.
Editors apparently later complained that the exchange showed Zuckerberg “doesn’t understand” what they do.