Zuckerberg: I'm still the man to run Facebook

Despite the turmoil that continues to surround his company, Mark Zuckerberg has insisted he is still the best person to lead Facebook.

"When you're building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world," he said on Wednesday, "there are things that you're going to mess up.

"What I think people should hold us accountable for is if we are learning from our mistakes." 

"Life is about learning from mistakes," Zuckerberg, 33, said on a call Wednesday with reporters. "At the end of the day, this is my responsibility. I started this place, I run it, I'm responsible." 

The mere possibility that his leadership is in question is a scenario few would have predicted even a month ago.

But recent reports around improper data gathering by third parties - as well as fake news and propaganda - have prompted some to question Mr Zuckerberg's ability to lead a company that some think has grown beyond his control.

Zuckerberg said the company is planning to audit apps and companies that connect with its service after apologizing and acknowledging the company left people vulnerable to having their public profiles collected by bad actors. 

Now, it's adding restrictions to its Facebook Login tool for apps, which lets users log into various services using their Facebook data. All apps that request access to information such as check-ins, likes, photos, posts, videos, events and groups as part of that login process will now need to be approved. Additionally, Facebook said outside apps won't be able to collect information such as religious or political views, relationship status or education and work history.

It's still reeling from Russian trolls abusing the social network during the 2016 US presidential campaign to meddle with the election and sow discord among Americans. Russian agents used a combination of paid ads and organic posts to spread misinformation and propaganda on the platform. On Tuesday, Zuckerberg announced the site is taking down more than 270 pages and accounts operated by a Russian organization called the Internet Research Agency, saying the IRA "has repeatedly acted deceptively and tried to manipulate people in the US, Europe, and Russia -- and we don't want them on Facebook anywhere in the world."

The company has also stepped up its fight against misinformation. It's partnered with news organizations like Agence France-Presse to help fact-check fake news. Facebook will also be able to fact-check videos and photos, not only links to written articles.

The social network also said it would hire 20,000 people to work on security and content reviews. On Wednesday, Zuckerberg said so far it has brought on 15,000 people, and will continue to ramp up.

"It's clear now we didn't do enough" to make sure Facebook's products couldn't be abused, Zuckerberg said. "That was a huge mistake. It was my mistake."