3 ms·

Assuming FB gave any thought to antitrust action -- which is unlikely the prevailing doctrine that businesses can do as they like as long as they don't charge c

Assuming FB gave any thought to antitrust action -- which is unlikely the prevailing doctrine that businesses can do as they like as long as they don't charge customers too much -- I think they ran some risk analysis and reached the conclusion that in a worst-case scenario they might take a hit to revenue and have to throw a VP or two under the bus, but would otherwise be able to continue with business as usual. The DOJ antitrust people and the FTC got a lot of their teeth knocked out when they went after Microsoft in the 1990s. However, you think conservatives would be more open to the possibility of using antitrust as a cudgel against social media companies that seem intolerant toward right-wing viewpoints. (Never mind that the end of the FCC's Fairness Doctrine helped enable the rise of right-wing media in the first place.)

DenisM 7y ago
> The DOJ antitrust people and the FTC got a lot of their teeth knocked out when they went after Microsoft in the 1990s. How do you mean? Microsoft got throughly declawed in the 90s, and never regained their top predator status.
- Porthos9K 7y ago
  I think Microsoft got off relatively easily compared to AT&T and Standard Oil, but I was in the camp hoping they'd be forcibly partitioned so that the applications business was separate from the OS business, both of which were separate from Microsoft's hardware operations (which consisted mainly of peripherals, because they hadn't gotten into the game console business yet).
  - fourthark 7y ago
    I was too. But at least all their scuzzy business practices were put to light, and they weren't able to behave that way anymore.
  - skinnymuch 7y ago
    For all we know Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon would all be much more powerful if Microsoft got split up. And maybe throw in a few other companies like Oracle.
RaceWon 7y ago
> However, you think conservatives would be more open to the possibility of using antitrust as a cudgel against social media companies that seem intolerant toward right-wing viewpoints. No, most of us actually welcome diversity of thought, and free expression of opposing ideas. Typically we don't want Big Brother to tell us, or anyone else what to do or how to do it. Big Brother is just some guys or gals; like the crew that hung out in the parking lot at the mall, and after all--who the fuck are they anyway to tell us what to do, or how to do it??

DenisM 7y ago

> The DOJ antitrust people and the FTC got a lot of their teeth knocked out when they went after Microsoft in the 1990s. How do you mean? Microsoft got throughly declawed in the 90s, and never regained their top predator status.

Porthos9K 7y ago
I think Microsoft got off relatively easily compared to AT&T and Standard Oil, but I was in the camp hoping they'd be forcibly partitioned so that the applications business was separate from the OS business, both of which were separate from Microsoft's hardware operations (which consisted mainly of peripherals, because they hadn't gotten into the game console business yet).
- fourthark 7y ago
  I was too. But at least all their scuzzy business practices were put to light, and they weren't able to behave that way anymore.
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  For all we know Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon would all be much more powerful if Microsoft got split up. And maybe throw in a few other companies like Oracle.

RaceWon 7y ago

> However, you think conservatives would be more open to the possibility of using antitrust as a cudgel against social media companies that seem intolerant toward right-wing viewpoints. No, most of us actually welcome diversity of thought, and free expression of opposing ideas. Typically we don't want Big Brother to tell us, or anyone else what to do or how to do it. Big Brother is just some guys or gals; like the crew that hung out in the parking lot at the mall, and after all--who the fuck are they anyway to tell us what to do, or how to do it??