Mark Zuckerberg defends controversial Facebook board member's $1.25million donation to Donald Trump in leaked internal memo

  • Mark Zuckerberg defends Facebook board member's big Trump donation 
  • Billionaire Peter Thiel donated $1.25million to the Republican's campaign
  • There had been some calls to remove Thiel from the network's board 
  • Zuckerberg backed Thiel, saying diversity is Facebook's biggest strength 

By Liam Quinn For Dailymail.com

Published: 07:58 EST, 20 October 2016 | Updated: 09:54 EST, 20 October 2016

Mark Zuckerberg has defended controversial Facebook board member Peter Thiel's $1.25million donation to Donald Trump in a leaked internal memo.

The Facebook CEO responded to criticism stemming from Thiel's financial support of Trump - in the wake of the Republican nominee being accused of sexual assault by a number of women.

Zuckerberg's comments were included in a leaked internal memo, which was published by Hacker News. 

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Mark Zuckerberg has defended controversial Facebook board member Peter Thiel's $1.25million donation to Donald Trump in a leaked internal memo

'I want to quickly address the questions and concerns about Peter Thiel as a board member and Trump supporter,' his message began.

'We care deeply about diversity. That’s easy to say when it means standing up for ideas you agree with. 

'It’s a lot harder when it means standing up for the rights of people with different viewpoints to say what they care about. That’s even more important.' 

The tech billionaire went on to say there are reasons people support Trump that do not involve: 'racism, sexism, xenophobia or alleged sexual assault.'

Zuckerberg responded to criticism stemming from Thiel's financial support of Trump - in the wake of the Republican nominee being accused of sexual assault by a number of women

'I want to quickly address the questions and concerns about Peter Thiel as a board member and Trump supporter,' Zuckerberg's memo began

The memo then identified diversity on Facebook as one of the biggest strengths of the social network, and said its 'community' is made stronger by so many different opinions.

'Not only in areas like race and gender, but also in areas like political ideology and religion,' Zuckerberg wrote.

'That’s ultimately what Facebook is about: giving everyone the power to share our experiences, so we can understand each other a bit better and connect us a little closer together.'

A Facebook spokesman confirmed the post's authenticity to CBS News, and added that it 'speaks for itself'. 

Zuckerberg said Facebook, 'cares deeply about diversity', and that it was important to support all opinions

Peter Thiel (pictured speaking during the Republican National Convention) donated $1.25million to Donald Trump

Zuckerberg's comments come after the CEO met with conservatives leaders and commentators earlier this year in the wake of the network's 'trending' scandal.

At the time, he refused to directly respond to allegations that Facebook employees deliberately suppressed conservative stories an views on its new trending topics feature.

But he sought to reassure them after the meeting by writing on Facebook: 'I know many conservatives don't trust that our platform surfaces content without a political bias.' 

Zuckerberg invited a dozen or so conservatives after a report in Gizmodo claimed the site deliberately downplayed conservative news subjects on its trending feature.

Trending topics were introduced in 2014 and appear in a separate section to the right of the Facebook newsfeed. 

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