Facebook Reacts To Comments On Social Media's Ills

Facebook has fired back at Chamath Palihapitiya after the former Facebook exec said social media is "destroying how society works."

In a statement on Tuesday, the social networking giant said: “Chamath has not been at Facebook for over six years. Facebook was a very different company back then and as we have grown we have realized how our responsibilities have grown too,” reports Fox News.

Facebook added it has worked with experts to understand the effects its service has on its users.

"We are also making significant investments more in people, technology and processes, and — as Mark Zuckerberg said on the last earnings call — we are willing to reduce our profitability to make sure the right investments are made,” Facebook concluded.

The statement comes after Palihapitiya, who now runs the venture capital firm Social Capital and is a co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, said social media is damaging the fabric of society.

"The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse. No cooperation. Misinformation. Mistruth. And it's not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem. So we are in a really bad state of affairs right now, in my opinion. It is eroding the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other."

He said that he rarely, if ever, uses Facebook, having posted maybe twice in seven years, something that has caused "huge problems" in his own social circles. He also added he would not let his own children use it.