Ted Cruz presses Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s alleged political censorship

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in the hot seat Tuesday as he testified before a U.S. Senate joint hearing.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz asked some tough questions about what he called concerns that the social network has censored conservative accounts and ideas.

Zuckerberg insists that Facebook is a “platform for all ideas.”

But Cruz asked about a 2016 Gizmodo report that said that Facebook barred Trump supporters Diamond and Silk after their content had been deemed “unsafe for the community,” as well as shutting down other conservative and religious pages.

Mark Zuckerberg testifies before lawmakers

“To a great many Americans, that appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias,” Cruz said.

Zuckerberg said that concerns about political bias may be due to the fact that the company is located in liberal Silicon Valley, and that they are “fair” concerns.

He also said he is working to “root out” political bias at the company.

Zuckerberg appeared before lawmakers to address the scandal surrounding company Cambridge Analytica that reportedly harvested data on millions of Facebook users without their permission.

Mark Zuckerberg through the years