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He also openly ignores requests to testify in front of UK & Canadian parliamentary committees... Think about that for a minute. Someone who controls 3b people.

He also openly ignores requests to testify in front of UK & Canadian parliamentary committees... Think about that for a minute. Someone who controls 3b people. Runs psychological experiments using AI. Bans accounts of people who violate corporate-created policies that weren't debated or voted on by the public. Violates FCC settlements. And then refuses to be held accountable - or answer questions- from first world, democratic governments.

peteretep 7y ago
> Someone who controls 3b people This bullshit hyperbole helps nobody
- mrnobody_67 7y ago
  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/facebook-sorry-secret-psychological-experiment-users https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/facebook-... They decide what news & ads get shown. FB played a significant role in Brexit and US Presidential elections, enforcing filter bubbles, and running ads in violation of campaign finance laws (i.e. Russia).
  - peteretep 7y ago
    Extrapolating that to “Zuck controls 3b people” is bullshit hyperbole
    - tty2300 7y ago
      Facebook has also performed studies where they controlled the items that show on individuals news feed and recorded how it changed their emotions. Controlling 3b people is exactly how I would describe it.
- AlexandrB 7y ago
  If there was a single newspaper that was read by 3b people I think many would be rightly concerned that it has too much power/influence. Why is this any different? That's setting aside the fact that Facebook does not even try to firewall content moderation from advertising the way a traditional newspaper would.
briandear 7y ago
So stop using Facebook. (I'm not defending Facebook's practices, but nothing is stopping you, your friends, or family from just not using Facebook/Insta/What's App anymore.) Is a banned account really something that should be subject to a public vote? That's ridiculous; that implies that Facebook is some kind of human right. It isn't. Stop using it if you don't like it.
- mrgordon 7y ago
  You make it seem like is isn't a bit of a collective problem though. Sure, you can not use Facebook and you'll miss all the information about your friends and their events. (Did you see the comment in this thread from someone who missed their high school reunion because it was only listed on Facebook?) You either "choose" to give up all of that or submit to every one of Facebook's practices. For some people that might be easy but for others it means they will miss many social interactions with the people they love who still use the site. You can say, sure thats why you should use Facebook. But I could imagine a slightly less evil Facebook that still provided that value to me. Perhaps there will be a concerted effort to fund a competitor (see Lyft vs Uber) or some regulations with teeth but Facebook is in a pretty solid monopoly position for now. They dictate the terms and you either agree or you lose out.
- mrnobody_67 7y ago
  I haven't had an account, ever. And don't use it. Doesn't stop FB from creating a shadow account though, buying up my credit history, and tons of other data from 3rd party sources.
dang 7y ago
Please don't post in the flamewar style to HN, regardless of how strongly you feel about someone or their company. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20166045 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20166045 and marked it off-topic.

peteretep 7y ago

> Someone who controls 3b people This bullshit hyperbole helps nobody

mrnobody_67 7y ago
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/facebook-sorry-secret-psychological-experiment-users https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/facebook-... They decide what news & ads get shown. FB played a significant role in Brexit and US Presidential elections, enforcing filter bubbles, and running ads in violation of campaign finance laws (i.e. Russia).
- peteretep 7y ago
  Extrapolating that to “Zuck controls 3b people” is bullshit hyperbole
  - tty2300 7y ago
    Facebook has also performed studies where they controlled the items that show on individuals news feed and recorded how it changed their emotions. Controlling 3b people is exactly how I would describe it.
AlexandrB 7y ago
If there was a single newspaper that was read by 3b people I think many would be rightly concerned that it has too much power/influence. Why is this any different? That's setting aside the fact that Facebook does not even try to firewall content moderation from advertising the way a traditional newspaper would.

briandear 7y ago

So stop using Facebook. (I'm not defending Facebook's practices, but nothing is stopping you, your friends, or family from just not using Facebook/Insta/What's App anymore.) Is a banned account really something that should be subject to a public vote? That's ridiculous; that implies that Facebook is some kind of human right. It isn't. Stop using it if you don't like it.

mrgordon 7y ago
You make it seem like is isn't a bit of a collective problem though. Sure, you can not use Facebook and you'll miss all the information about your friends and their events. (Did you see the comment in this thread from someone who missed their high school reunion because it was only listed on Facebook?) You either "choose" to give up all of that or submit to every one of Facebook's practices. For some people that might be easy but for others it means they will miss many social interactions with the people they love who still use the site. You can say, sure thats why you should use Facebook. But I could imagine a slightly less evil Facebook that still provided that value to me. Perhaps there will be a concerted effort to fund a competitor (see Lyft vs Uber) or some regulations with teeth but Facebook is in a pretty solid monopoly position for now. They dictate the terms and you either agree or you lose out.
mrnobody_67 7y ago
I haven't had an account, ever. And don't use it. Doesn't stop FB from creating a shadow account though, buying up my credit history, and tons of other data from 3rd party sources.

dang 7y ago

Please don't post in the flamewar style to HN, regardless of how strongly you feel about someone or their company. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20166045 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20166045 and marked it off-topic.