Facebook now says that it will not use its products to influence how people vote in 2016, The Hill reported Friday. The statement came after Gizmodo reported that Facebook employees asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg if they have a "responsibility" to stop GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

“Voting is a core value of democracy and we believe that supporting civic participation is an important contribution we can make to the community," the company told Gizmodo. "We encourage any and all candidates, groups, and voters to use our platform to share their views on the election and debate the issues. We as a company are neutral – we have not and will not use our products in a way that attempts to influence how people vote.”

The statement, Gizmodo added, did not answer the primary question, which, Michael Nunez said, is whether Zuckerberg responded to the employee question, and what that response was. According to Gizmodo's original report, the question, which rated in the top five asked of Zuckerberg, read: “What responsibility does Facebook have to help prevent President Trump in 2017?”

Facebook, Gizmodo explained, could manipulate news feed algorithms to downplay or squash pro-Trump stories if it so desired. Moreover, Gizmodo added, Facebook "has no legal responsibility to give an unfiltered view of what’s happening on their network."

Facebook claims it will not attempt to influence how people vote in 2016 | Examiner.com