Facebook CEO apologises for dividing people

San Francisco, Oct 2 (IANS) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for hurting and dividing people through his social media platform and said he would work to do better.

In a post written after Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, concluded on Sunday, Zuckerberg said, "We reflect on the past year and ask forgiveness for our mistakes. For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better.

"For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better. May we all be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life."

Facebook has been facing an intense scrutiny over the presence of Russian ads on its platform during the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump has also accused the platform of being "anti-Trump".

Zuckerberg responded to the criticism saying: "Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like. That's what running a platform for all ideas looks like".

Facebook is facing a probe after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000.

After an extensive legal and policy review, the social media giant on Monday will share 3,000 Russian ads with Congressional investigators.

According to a ReCode report, along with the Russian ads, Facebook plans to share information about the users those ads targeted and how they were paid for with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Facebook earlier handed over the details to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of alleged Russian meddling in the election, included copies of the ads and details about the accounts that bought them and the targeting criteria they used.