Zuckerberg says US government threat to Internet

Says US govt need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst.

WASHINGTON: Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday he called President Barack Obama to complain that the US government is undermining confidence in the Internet.

In a post on his own Facebook page, the founder of the huge social network expressed anger towards Washington, in what appeared to be a reaction to some of the latest revelations about US government surveillance.

"I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future," he wrote.

"Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform."

Zuckerberg's comments come amid growing tensions between the tech sector and US administration over leaked documents describing the vast surveillance ability of the secretive National Security Agency and other intelligence services.

"The Internet works because most people and companies do the same. We work together to create this secure environment and make our shared space even better for the world," he said.

"This is why I've been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government... The US government should be the champion for the Internet, not a threat.

"They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst."

The comments come a day after a report citing leaked NSA documents said the secretive spy agency had imitated a Facebook server to inject malware into computers to expand its intelligence collection capacity.

The report by former Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald said the NSA had developed malware that allows it to collect data automatically from millions of computers worldwide.