Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, on Wednesday dismissed Donald Trump’s complaint that the platform was biased against him and defended his company’s role in last year’s American election.

The social media pioneer has been on the defensive for months about allegations that Facebook helped spread fake news and that Russian agents bought advertisements as part of an attempt to sway the election outcome.

In a post published on Facebook, Mr Zuckerberg said both sides of the debate were angry at him.

“Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like. That's what running a platform for all ideas looks like," he wrote.