I don't think we can break up Google or Facebook like AT&T or Standard Oil. The data economy requires new antitrust tools, which the Economist wrote about rece

I don't think we can break up Google or Facebook like AT&T or Standard Oil. The data economy requires new antitrust tools, which the Economist wrote about recently: "A break-up would be highly disruptive and slow down innovation. It is likely that a Googlet or a Babyface would quickly become dominant again."[1] Federated social networks will never catch on if they require more work from the user for likely less utility. Facebook is also nothing like MySpace. This comparison is tired: Facebook is orders of magnitude larger than MySpace ever was. It's not going to get squashed away by a competitor, especially given its ability (alongside Google, Amazon) to buy up would-be competitors while they're young. I also quite dislike the idea of regulating Facebook as a utility, as I dislike the idea of that tight coupling with government. Facebook quickly becomes a tool for coercion, propaganda, and oppression. There needs to be a new set of rules built around enforcing competition around the data economy. The real risk is that a couple small players completely shut the door to new competition (which leads to more improper use of data as a few players have all of it). Regulators need to get smarter about blocking mergers (like FB and WhatsApp). New rules, like enforcing data sharing, need to be explored (although this reveals a big risk for data privacy). [1]: https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21721634-how-it-shaping-up-data-giving-rise-new-economy https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21721634-how-it-shap...