Facebook admits social media threat to democracy

WASHINGTON: Facebook acknowledged that the explosion of social media poses a potential threat to democracy, pledging to tackle the problem head-on and turn its powerful platform into a force for "good."

The comments from the world´s biggest social network were its latest response to intense criticism for failing to stop the spread of misinformation among its two billion users -- most strikingly leading up to the 2016 US election. In a blog post, Facebook civic engagement chief Samidh Chakrabarti said he was "not blind to the damage that the internet can do to even a well-functioning democracy."