Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Aug 23, 2026

Mark Zuckerberg reacts to NYT report on Facebook using news feed to promote positive stories about itself

Mark Zuckerberg reacts to NYT report on Facebook using news feed to promote positive stories about itself

Zuckerberg blasted the Times report's claim that he used an electric surfboard in a video posted to his personal accounts on July 4

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reacted to a New York Times report that claims he approved a plan dubbed Project Amplify, where the social media giant would use the platform's "news feed" to promote positive coverage of itself to improve its image.

One line of the Times report alleges that, rather than addressing corporate controversies, Zuckerberg decided to post a video of himself riding a "electric surfboard" to his personal accounts on July 4. Zuckerberg fired back on Tuesday, arguing he actually can be seen using a board that has a manual hydrofoil.



"Look, it's one thing for the media to say false things about my work, but it's crossing the line to say I'm riding an electric surfboard when that video clearly shows a hydrofoil that I'm pumping with my own legs," Zuckerberg wrote.

Zuckerberg isn't the only Facebook employee to dispute the Times report.

"There is nothing surprising about a New York Times story that attempts to villainize Facebook for telling its side of the story -- but this article includes such clear falsehoods that were clearly refuted that even we are surprised," Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne tweeted. "The story salaciously implies we are using News Feed to improve our image, and yet, NYT intentionally clipped my statement which clearly said on the record: "There is zero change to News Feed ranking." This wasn’t important to readers?"


He goes on to say the the Times' reporting of a January meeting in which Project Amplify was discussed is "fake", adding that there was "no named people in attendance or any named source claiming it ever happened."

The New York Times cited a total of six current and former employees in its report who "declined to be identified for fear of reprisal," including three who said Zuckerberg approved the project, two who tested the project in three cities in August, and one source that attended the January meeting.

In addition to pushing positive stories, the Times report also claimed that Facebook took steps to limit access to internal data.

The New York Times isn't the only outlet Facebook has pushed back against.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a series of reports, citing internal documents, which claim that Facebook was aware of numerous problems, including Instagram's impact on teen girls' mental health.


Facebook's Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said in a blog post on Sunday that the WSJ reports contained "deliberate mischaracterizations" of the company.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
×