Tim Cook to appear on NBC News to discuss division and manipulation of people by social media

Apple CEO Tim Cook will appear on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, and will discuss the alleged Russian manipulation of the U.S. populace with social media.

In a snippet from the interview published on Twitter, NBC News host Lester Hold asked Cook if he thought that social media purveyors were late to acknowledge how they were used to influence the 2016 election cycle.

TONIGHT: Apple CEO Tim Cook sits down with @LesterHoltNBC to weigh in on Russian use of social media to meddle in the 2016 election. pic.twitter.com/UJLjZDUZbq

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) November 1, 2017

"I think they learned along the way a lot," Cook said. "I think it's best to ask them if they should have projected it or not."

"I don't believe the big issue are ads from foreign governments. I believe that's like .1 percent of the issue," Cook added. "The bigger issue is that some of these tools are used to divide people, to manipulate people, to get fake news to people in broad numbers to influence their thinking. This to me is the number one through ten issue."

The interview appears to have been done in an atrium at Apple's existing headquarters, and was filmed behind a series of iPhone X units on a demonstration table. It is not clear if any other topics will be addressed.

The interview airs on Wednesday night, during the 6:30 p.m. eastern time broadcast.

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