(Recasts with comments about meeting) By Lisa Richwine and Dustin Volz May 18 (Reuters) - Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg heard from more than a dozen U.S. conservative leaders on Wednesday and said he will work to build trust with users who believe the social network displays politically biased news content.

After a closed-door meeting at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, Zuckerberg defended his company's practices but acknowledged that many conservatives believe Facebook is politically liberal.

"It doesn't make sense for our mission or our business to suppress political content," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook after the meeting.

"I know many conservatives don't trust that our platform surfaces content without a political bias," he added. "I wanted to hear their concerns personally and have an open conversation about how we can build trust. " The editorial practices at the world's largest social network came under scrutiny after a former Facebook contractor anonymously accused editors there of deliberately suppressing conservative news. The allegations were reported by technology news website Gizmodo, which did not identify the ex-contractor.

Facebook has denied the allegations and said it would conduct a full investigation.

A Facebook spokeswoman said the meeting produced "a constructive discussion" and some attendees called it productive.

"I think Facebook is very sincere in wanting to resolve outstanding issues with conservatives," Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, said after the meeting.

Attendees were frank about their concerns, but the tone was cordial, Bozell said. "Facebook invited that frank talk. People didn't hold back too much," he said.

On her Facebook page, conservative CNN commentator S.E. Cupp said the meeting had produced "strong commitments to address issues, as well as to work together on common goals." Other attendees included former White House press secretary Dana Perino, media personality Glenn Beck and former Republican Senator Jim DeMint.

Zuckerberg said that while Silicon Valley has a reputation for being liberal, Facebook's 1.6 billion users span every background and ideology.

"The reality is, conservatives and Republicans have always been an important part of Facebook," Zuckerberg wrote.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has more Facebook fans than any other presidential candidate, he said. Fox News "drives more interactions on its Facebook page than any other news outlet in the world," Zuckerberg added. "It's not even close." Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox .