Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would match Harvey donations up to $1 million.
James Martin/CNETFacebook is for more than baby photos and political rants.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the world’s largest social network, said on Thursday that people on the site have raised more than $10 million for people affected by Hurricane Harvey, the storm that’s devastated Texas.
That figure includes the $1 million Facebook said it would match in donations for the storm.
Zuckerberg also said the company is starting a fundraising campaign for people affected by floods in South Asia. Facebook is donating $1 million to people helping with relief there.
After he first posted on Tuesday about Facebook’s effort to match donations, he was criticized for not addressing other causes. The top comments on that post were from people asking Zuckerberg to donate to other relief efforts.
Facebook been grappling with its power and influence in the world. In June, the company amended its mission statement from its oft-repeated to “make the world more open and connected,” to “bringing the world closer together.” This is after Facebook has been dogged by criticism of helping the spread of false news and dividing people by their ideologies.
“As the hard work to rebuild continues, it’s inspiring to see people coming together to help others in need,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page. “We’re committed to building services that bring people together — like these fundraiser tools — because we know that when people come together, we can do a lot of good in the world.”
