Facebook COO: Company Never Paid For 'Fake News'

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is pushing back on claims that the company used an outside firm to smear its competitors and critics, saying Facebook never paid for "fake news."

In the wake of this week's damaging New York Times report that detailed how Facebook responded to Russia's use of the social media platform to try to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Sandberg spoke with CBS News and tried to clear the air.

"We absolutely did not pay anyone to create fake news — that they have assured me was not happening," she said. "And again, we're doing a thorough look into what happened but they have assured me that we were not paying anyone to either write or promote anything that was false. And that's very important."

Sandberg was referring to Facebook's decision to hire a conservative PR firm that also did opposition research. That company, according to the Times, placed stories in the right-leaning media that attacked Facebook's critics. The Times also claimed that billionaire Democratic donor George Soros was a target of the offensive.

Sandberg said she only learned of Facebook's use of Definers Public Affairs when the Times published its story on Wednesday.

"I did not know about or hire Definers or any firm," she said. "The article saying that I was spending time hiding, deflecting or hiring PR firms to do other things. That's just all not true. I wasn't involved in any of that and I don't think that was the core strategy at all. Our core strategy has been to shore up the defenses to the company and invest in security."

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