Podcast: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg On Recode Decode

This week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg caused a ruckus with his lengthy interview for the latest episode of Recode Decode, a weekly podcast in which the site's founder and leading tech journalist Kara Swisher interviews tech and media's key players. The two discussed Russian election meddling, Cambridge Analytica, the company's business model, social media regulation and more.

"In this 90-minute interview we talked about a range of things, from news to data to privacy to China to his political ambitions. As you will hear, Zuckerberg can cling closely to talking points, but he also did reveal more than he has about this annus horribilis for him and, well, the rest of us," Kara Swisher summed up the interview herself.

What sparked sharp criticism was Zuckerberg's comments about Facebook’s role in the spread of misinformation. When asked about why conspiracy theory outlet Infowars is still allowed on the site, Zuckerberg said it was impossible to distinguish between malicious content and unintentional mistakes. He volunteered the example of Holocaust deniers, saying that he didn't think that "they're intentionally getting it wrong". Hours after the interview went live, Facebook CEO sent an email to Swisher to clarify his remarks, backtracking that he "did not mean to defend the intent" of Holocaust deniers.

But that's not the only mind-boggling statement Zuckerberg made in this in-depth and wide-ranging interview that definitely revealed much more than the US Congressional hearings. Swisher's incisive and insightful questioning got Zuckerberg a little dragged down into some self-flagellation too.

"At one point, I asked him who was to blame and who should pay the price for the Cambridge Analytica controversy and he rightly named himself, as the person who invented Facebook. 'Do you want me to fire myself on this podcast?' Zuckerberg joked. Spoiler alert: He did not," Swisher described the interview.