Washington (AFP)

Mark Zuckerberg, the boss and founder of Facebook, on Thursday made a long plea for a broad interpretation of freedom of expression. And to affirm: "in case of doubt, we should always lean towards greater freedom of expression".

In a rare speech of general philosophy, in front of an audience of students of the prestigious University of Georgetown in Washington, Mark Zuckerberg has long exposed his views. He also commented on Facebook's recent decision, which allowed for the broadcast on its platform of a political advertisement of Donald Trump's re-election campaign, which contained false information about a Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

The decision provoked an uproar, and Elizabeth Warren, who for the moment took the lead of the candidates for the Democratic nomination, pushed the provocation to buy an advertisement on Facebook where she affirmed - falsely - that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook supported the re-election of Donald Trump.

"In a democracy I think it's up to people to decide what is credible, not to tech companies," he said, although there are some exceptions to this principle, such as inciting violence.

For him political ads are useful for small candidates, local candidates, challengers or groups that would otherwise be ignored by the media.

"Bannies, political ads favor those who are already in office and those that the media cover," said the young billionaire.

"Where to set the limit? There are many more commercials on controversial topics than there are directly related to an election," he said. What about health issues, immigration, women's rights? "Would it really make sense to give everyone a voice in political debates except for the candidates?" He argued.

"I do not think the majority of people want to live in a world where we can put online only things that tech companies believe are 100% true," he said.

Facebook is particularly on the hot seat in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when this British company used their personal data without the knowledge of tens of millions of Facebook users to influence the news. vote in 2016, in favor of Donald Trump.

Added to this were the revelations of online misinformation campaigns by a Kremlin-based Russian pharmacy to help Donald Trump's candidacy.

Facebook had been particularly slow in admitting the scope of the intervention.

© 2019 AFP