The author of the article is asking whether or not it is good that one of the world's main channels of information is controlled by a large company that can and

The author of the article is asking whether or not it is good that one of the world's main channels of information is controlled by a large company that can and does do whatever it wants with the information. Once a company becomes large enough and controls enough of our lives, the fact that it technically can do whatever it wants becomes "immaterial" as you say. That makes this story more significant than just "water is wet." Like it or not, we don't live in a libertarian society.