Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accuses Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook of ‘partial responsiblity’ for the US Capitol insurrection

• During a virtual town hall meeting, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook “bear partial responsibility” for the US Capitol insurrection.
• She also said that Facebook has had “a complete lack of accountability” to democracy.
• Ocasio-Cortez referred to her 2019 grilling of Mark Zuckerberg during a congressional hearing.
• Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg has, this week, admitted that Facebook’s moderation of disinformation is “never perfect.”
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook of being partially responsible for last week’s violent siege of the US capitol building.

The New York congresswoman, referring to Zuckerberg, said: “He is part of the problem. Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook bear partial responsibility for Wednesday’s events. Period.”

Speaking during a virtual town hall meeting on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez went on to say that Facebook was ” trying to do as much damage control as possible, but they knew.”

She added: “Not only did they know, but they allowed it.”

Read more: Banning Trump from social media is just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound,’ critics say – but no one can agree on the best way to wipe out the disinformation contagion.

Ocasio-Cortez suggested that Facebook has historically had a "complete lack of accountability" to democracy during the town hall meeting.

She particularly focused on what she believes is Zuckerberg's unwillingness to tackle election disinformation.

The congresswoman said: "We knew this was a problem. We knew this so far out that, pre-Covid, I asked him specifically about election disinformation and its ties, on Facebook, to white supremacist organizations."

She referred to her 2019 exchange in Congress in which she grilled Zuckerberg with tough questions about Facebook's refusal to take down political ads with false statements.

Ocasio-Cortez also seemed to level the accusation against Zuckerberg that he was "more than happy to have dinner parties with white supremacist sympathizers."

This refers to Politico reports that Zuckerberg hosted "off-the-record dinners" with the likes of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Earlier this week, Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg dismissed claims that the US Capitol building's siege was primarily organized on Facebook.

Sandberg did, however, admit that Facebook's "enforcement is never perfect."