Zuckerberg criticizes Trump's call for border wall at F8 conference
SAN FRANCISCO—Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told attendees of Facebook's annual developers conference that they should concentrate on building bridges rather than walls, an apparent reference to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's calls to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"I hear fearful voices calling for building walls," Zuckerberg said to packed room of developers and media. "Instead of building walls, we can help people build bridges."
Zuckerberg said he's concerned about more countries turning away from each other. "If the world starts to turn inwards, then our community will just have to work even harder to bring them all together."
He later wrote, in a post on his Facebook page, that the comments were not about any one person or country.
In his keynote, Zuckerberg said he hopes we have the courage to see we're better off bringing people together, not tearing them apart.
"It takes courage to choose hope over fear," he said." You have to be optimistic to think that you can change the world."
On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg wrote, "This speech was personally important to me and I spent a lot of time writing it," he wrote. "Even if it's unusual for a CEO to address world issues and lay out a 10 year roadmap to improve them, I care deeply about connecting the world and bringing people together, so I wanted to put this out there. It's different from any other speech I've given."
He continued: "It's about why connecting the world is more important now than ever. It's about having the courage to choose hope over fear. This isn't about any one person or country. It's a worldview about connecting all people and nations. And it's a roadmap to help get there."
Zuckerberg says Facebook's roadmap will give people the chance to share anything in the world with any one. His top priority: helping more people get online with technology like drones and satellites.
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