USA / Trump should be responsible: Mark Zuckerberg on US Capitol riot

Technical Desk: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that former President Donald Trump "should be responsible" for statements he made preceding the deadly Capitol insurrection on January 6.

Zuckerberg joined Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the role tech platforms play in the spread of misinformation and extremism. The issue has been under the spotlight since the Capitol riot and comes as lawmakers re-examine the way the government fights domestic terrorism and white supremacy.

"We did our part to secure the integrity of the election, and then on January 6, President Trump gave a speech rejecting the results and calling on people to fight," Zuckerberg said Thursday. "The attack on the Capitol was an outrage and I want to express my sympathy to all of the members, staff, and Capitol workers who had to live through this disgraceful moment in our history. And I want to express my gratitude to the Capitol Police, who were on the frontlines in defense of our democracy."

He added: "I believe that the former president should be responsible for his words and that the people who broke the law should be responsible for their actions."

The House of Representatives impeached Trump days before he left office for "incitement of insurrection" - the most bipartisan impeachment vote in US history - but the then-Republican controlled Senate acquitted him. The Justice Department has also brought charges against nearly 400 people related to the failed insurrection.

Zuckerberg testified on Thursday that Facebook "worked with law enforcement to identify and address threats" before January 6 and "provided extensive support in identifying the insurrectionists" and removing "posts supporting violence" during and after the attack.

"We didn't catch everything, but we made our services inhospitable to those who might do harm," he said. "And when we feared that he would incite further violence, we suspended the former president's accounts."

Zuckerberg went on to say, however, that he doesn't believe tech companies alone can fix the divisions in the country and that "polarization was rising in America long before social networks were even invented, and it's fallen or stable in many other countries where social networks are popular." The Facebook CEO then laid the blame for divisions in the US at the feet of a "political and media environment that drives Americans apart."