Former President Barack Obama warned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take fake news and disinformation very seriously, reports The Washington Post. The paper says that Obama warned Facebook that unless the government and the social media giant worked together more, the threat of fake news and disinformation would continue to get worse, especially for the next presidential race.
The conversation reportedly took place just nine days after Zuckerberg dismissed that fake news on Facebook influenced the election, calling it “crazy,” two months before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. After becoming aware, Zuckerberg admitted that the problems of fake news did exist, however were not widespread and not easy to remedy, according to sources who were briefed on the private exchange.
The meeting, which occurred in a hotel room in Lima, Peru, Obama hoped that this would be a wake-up call for Zuckerberg. After Trump’s election win, Obama’s asides “wished they had done more” to prevent the spread of fake news.
The social media giant continues to be under the radar of how it handles fake news and continues to. The company has increased its efforts such as blocking ads from pages that spread fake news, and even showing users how to spot fake news.
