Mark Zuckerberg declares Facebook is going to ‘stand up for free expression’ and allow people to post what they want – but the CEO admits the new move will ‘p**s off a lot of people’

‘Mark Zuckerberg has declared that Facebook is ‘going to stand up for free expression’ in spite of the fact it will ‘piss off a lot of people’.

The controversial CEO, 35, made the claim during a fiery appearance at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit in Utah on Friday.

Zuckerberg told the audience that Facebook had previously tried to resist moves that would be branded as ‘too offensive’ – but says he now believes he is being asked to partake in ‘excessive censorship’.

‘Increasingly we’re getting called to censor a lot of different kinds of content that makes me really uncomfortable,’ he claimed. ‘We’re going to take down the content that’s really harmful, but the line needs to be held at some point’.

The Facebook founder went on to bemoan: ‘It kind of feels like the list of things that you’re not allowed to say socially keeps on growing, and I’m not really okay with that’.

He then declared: ‘This is the new approach [free expression], and I think it’s going to p**s off a lot of people. But frankly the old approach was p**sing off a lot of people too, so let’s try something different’.’

‘Facebook posted a press release to its FB News site Thursday which announced the implementation of aggressive new measures aimed at combating “misinformation.”

In the press release, Facebook’s Head of Health Kang-Xing Jin announced “Facebook is supporting their work in several ways, most especially by working to limit the spread of misinformation and harmful content about the virus and connecting people to helpful information.”

The measures, which have been described as “unusually aggressive” by the New York Post, include using Facebook’s network of third-party fact-checking sites to limit the distribution of alleged disinformation.

“Our global network of third-party fact-checkers are continuing their work reviewing content and debunking false claims that are spreading related to the coronavirus,” the post states. “When they rate information as false, we limit its spread on Facebook and Instagram and show people accurate information from these partners. We also send notifications to people who already shared or are trying to share this content to alert them that it’s been fact-checked.”