New York (CNN Business) Mark Zuckerberg sent a message to the public on Wednesday: Facebook is fine doing things that are unpopular, as long as people understand why.

Facebook has come under scrutiny over its political advertising policies , as fellow social media platform Twitter decided to ban political ads

"One critique of our approach for much of the last decade was that because we wanted to be liked, we didn't always communicate our views as clearly because we were worried about offending people," Zuckerberg said on a call with analysts.

He said his goal for the next decade "isn't to be liked, but to be understood." That's because in order to be trusted, "people need to know where you stand," Zuckerberg said.

The comment comes as Facebook stakes out positions that frustrate people on both sides of the political aisle, including allowing politicians to lie in ads on the platform and doubling down on encryption.

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