Billionaire George Soros says Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg should be removed from their leadership positions at Facebook

• Billionaire George Soros is calling for Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg to be "removed from control of Facebook."
• Writing to the Financial Times, Soros said that Facebook should "err on the side of caution and refuse to publish" political ads on its platform.
• "Mr. Zuckerberg appears to be engaged in some kind of mutual assistance arrangement with Donald Trump that will help him get re-elected," Soros said.
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Billionaire George Soros is calling for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg to be "removed from control of Facebook," and said the company should stop publishing political ads.

Writing to the Financial Times, Soros said that Zuckerberg "appears to be engaged in some kind of mutual assistance arrangement with Donald Trump that will help him get re-elected," but did not provide evidence to substantiate his claim.

Aside from his wealth, Soros is known for his philanthropy and liberal political activism.

He added that Facebook should "err on the side of caution and refuse to publish" political ads, though "it is unlikely that Facebook will follow this course."

Facebook has received criticism that its policy not to fact-check political ads on its platform allows politicians to spread misinformation. Facebook has argued that its policy protects free speech, and said that political ads make up a tiny portion of its advertising revenue.

In his letter to the Financial Times, Soros referenced an op-ed in the FT by Zuckerberg in which the Facebook executive said that tech companies need governments to set regulations on political advertising.

"I don't think private companies should make so many decisions alone when they touch on fundamental democratic values," Zuckerberg wrote.

But Soros said that Zuckerberg "should stop obfuscating the facts by piously arguing for government regulation and that Facebook "does not need to wait for government regulations" to stop publishing political ads.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Soros has made similar comments before; he said in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that Facebook and President Donald Trump have a "kind of informal mutual assistance operation." Facebook called his claim "just plain wrong."