Zuckerberg warns 'tide is turning against globalisation'

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has issued a warning that "the tide is turning against globalisation", says the BBC.

The billionaire social media pioneer said in a recent interview that some people had been left behind by global growth and were seeking to "withdraw" from the "connected world".

Zuckerberg made the comments on the day he also published a 5,800-word manifesto that has "sparked further speculation about a future political career", says the Daily Telegraph.

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Rumours, consistently denied by Zuckerberg himself, have circulated for some time that he is intending to embark on a run for president in 2020.

In the manifesto Zuckerberg says he still strongly believes in "connecting the world", but acknowledges that global growth has not been spread equally.

He adds it is "not enough if it's good for some people but it doesn't work for other people".

Zuckerberg cites the demise of traditional – and physical – social communities, such as churches, labour unions and local community groups. But he says social media such as Facebook could help to fill the gap.

"In times like these the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

He added that social media had at times been part of the problem and that "fake news, polarised views and 'filter bubbles' [are] damaging 'common understanding'", says the BBC.

Addressing the topic of fake news, which some say played a key role in the recent election of Donald Trump, Zuckerberg said: "We are proceeding carefully because there is not always a clear line between hoaxes, satire and opinion.

"Our approach will focus less on banning misinformation, and more on surfacing additional perspectives and information, including that fact checkers dispute an item's accuracy."

As for the rumours that he's harbouring political ambitions, Zuckerberg isn't giving anything away.

"I am not doing that now, it's not the plan," he said. "The thing I really care about is connecting the world."