Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg promises to discuss 'the future of technology' as 2019 resolution after difficult year

'I'm going to put myself out there more than I've been comfortable with'

In this file photo taken on April 10, 2018, one hundred cardboard cutouts of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stand outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC (SAUL LOEB / AFP)SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Mark Zuckerberg says he will speak more about the future of technology in 2019, as part of a New Year's resolution.

The Facebook boss made the commitment after an awful year for the company, which saw it mired in dozens of data scandals and accused of undermining democracy.

Now he says he will discuss those issues and more alongside leaders and experts. Those discussions will happen in public as he attempts to explain the consequences of what he has done, he said.

"My challenge for 2019 is to host a series of public discussions about the future of technology in society," Mr Zuckerberg said.

"The opportunities, the challenges, the hopes, and the anxieties. Every few weeks I'll talk with leaders, experts, and people in our community from different fields and I'll try different formats to keep it interesting. These will all be public, either on my Facebook or Instagram pages or on other media."

The 34-year-old entrepreneur admitted that the effort would be a "personal challenge" but said it was necessary to shape the future of technology in society.

"I'm an engineer, and I used to just build out my ideas and hope they'd mostly speak for themselves," he went on. "But given the importance of what we do, that doesn't cut it anymore.

"So I'm going to put myself out there more than I've been comfortable with and engage more in some of these debates about the future, the trade-offs we face, and where we want to go."

The move comes amid mounting pressure for Facebook to be more transparent about its practices in light of incidents such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Mr Zuckerberg was empty seated by an international grand committee on fake news in November, after he declined to attend a session to answer questions in Westminster from politicians.

Additional reporting by agencies