10 ms·

Curious how Nick Clegg has changed his tune on data collection since he went to work for Facebook. When he was leader of the Liberal Democrats and UK Deputy PM,

by Veen 3y ago

Curious how Nick Clegg has changed his tune on data collection since he went to work for Facebook. When he was leader of the Liberal Democrats and UK Deputy PM, he was strongly in favour of a data "Bill of Rights" that would limit and control data collection and sharing. I wonder what changed his mind?

johneth 3y ago
> I wonder what changed his mind? Probably a lack of integrity.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  He has millions of reasons, really.
cjrp 3y ago
About £10m in Meta shares, apparently.
samwillis 3y ago
The fact that the number two executive [0] at Facebook/Meta is a former legislator and politician who's responsible for lobbying governments shows just how much of an existential threat Facebook face. Facebook/Meta are at the "cigarette company fighting for its right to operate" stage of its existence. They know they prey on people, and are ultimately "responsible" for a coming mental health crisis, disinformation, and potentially worse in some countries. My bet is, just as with cigarette and oil companies, we will discover in 30 years time that Facebook had unpublished research into just how bad for the world some of their activities are. 0: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60410636 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60410636 > The move puts the former Lib Dem leader on a par with Mr Zuckerberg himself > Mr Zuckerberg said Meta needed "a senior leader at the level of myself... who can lead and represent us for all of our policy issues globally".
- ModernMech 3y ago
  > My bet is, just as with cigarette and oil companies, we will discover in 30 years time that Facebook had unpublished research into just how bad for the world some of their activities are. Ahem... Facebook researchers have found that 1 in 8 of its users report engaging in compulsive use of social media that impacts their sleep, work, parenting or relationships, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. https://archive.is/zhGBC https://archive.is/zhGBC
  - samwillis 3y ago
    Tip of the iceberg.
- yung_steezy 3y ago
  Not just any politician/legislator: He was deputy PM of the UK for 5 years.
- bentcorner 3y ago
  IMO it's much worse than cigarettes, in that the ills that Facebook delivers upon us is very nuanced and isn't a concrete object like a cigarette is. It's only when you start pulling all the pieces of FB together (commenting, sharing, liking, friend graphs, etc.) that it starts becoming a bad thing. Maybe data privacy turns out to be the "lower receiver" of social media but I doubt it.
- ssnistfajen 3y ago
  FB internal researches have already found that Instagram is having negative impacts on the mental health of teenagers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/09/14/facebook-internal-research-found-instagram-can-be-very-harmful-to-young-girls-report-says https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/09/14/faceboo...
jacquesm 3y ago
This is par for the course. Critical voices get hired. It's a 'win win' in the sense that the critical voice gets to shut up and they get some money out of it. /s
aldous 3y ago
Clegg's credibility in the UK is pretty poor due to some well publicised policy u-turns during his tenure in political power, most notable being tuition fees. He went from hero to zero very quickly over there, becoming almost an archetype of the slimey, untrustworthy politician. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/12/nick-clegg-university-tuition-fees-norman-lamb https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/12/nick-clegg-...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- avianlyric 3y ago
  I can’t help but feel that Clegg get an unfair rep for that. The tuition fees thing was never going to happen, and was always put out by the Lib Dem’s to apply pressure to the two main parties (Conservative and Labour). The Lib Dem’s then made the fatal mistake of actually making it into government, which they obviously never anticipated happening when they originally made the tuition fees promise. Personally I think Clegg and Lib Dem’s did a fantastic job of reigning in the worst aspects of the Tory party, and the UK public raking them over coals for tuition fees has only benefited the Tories by removing the only thing that stopped them going off the rails completely. Which of course happened immediately after the Tories got rid of the Lib Dem’s and we got Brexit a year later
  - samwillis 3y ago
    There may be some truth to that, and they did get the Conservatives to run a referendum on changing the electoral system from "First Past The Post" to "Alternative Vote". In some ways, getting that referendum should have been an incredible win worth sacrificing some short term policies. Unfortunately the campaign for the change was a disaster, and the misinformation and fear mongering about the change pushed the country to vote it down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_Kingdom_Alternative_Vote_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_Kingdom_Alternativ...
    - pjc50 3y ago
vonquant 3y ago
Money is often a compelling argument.
kybernetikos 3y ago
> It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it -- Upton Sinclair
padjo 3y ago
I wish people would stop assuming that all politicians believe in the things they propose. Many are basically sociopaths who just agree with whatever gets them votes.
- kderbyma 3y ago
  almost all of them are imo - if in office and that office manages 1M or more people. Those aren't usually aren't elected sadly because they aren't willing to sell their souls. There are good odds that a sociopath will start to show up...and who wants to tell others how to live their lives....sociopaths and antisocial people....great choice of leaders but time and again...they lie and cheat and steal and make sure they look good for the pictures....so you elect them to give themselves raise, increase homelessness, increase poverty and spread policies that kill.....and enslave the future.
spuz 3y ago
Nick Clegg isn't mentioned in the article - what are you basing the statement that he's changed his mind on?
- Veen 3y ago
  I am basing it on my knowledge of the story, which I gained by reading things. Feel free to do the same.

by Veen 3y ago

johneth 3y ago

> I wonder what changed his mind? Probably a lack of integrity.

jacquesm 3y ago
He has millions of reasons, really.

cjrp 3y ago

About £10m in Meta shares, apparently.

samwillis 3y ago

The fact that the number two executive [0] at Facebook/Meta is a former legislator and politician who's responsible for lobbying governments shows just how much of an existential threat Facebook face. Facebook/Meta are at the "cigarette company fighting for its right to operate" stage of its existence. They know they prey on people, and are ultimately "responsible" for a coming mental health crisis, disinformation, and potentially worse in some countries. My bet is, just as with cigarette and oil companies, we will discover in 30 years time that Facebook had unpublished research into just how bad for the world some of their activities are. 0: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60410636 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60410636 > The move puts the former Lib Dem leader on a par with Mr Zuckerberg himself > Mr Zuckerberg said Meta needed "a senior leader at the level of myself... who can lead and represent us for all of our policy issues globally".

ModernMech 3y ago
> My bet is, just as with cigarette and oil companies, we will discover in 30 years time that Facebook had unpublished research into just how bad for the world some of their activities are. Ahem... Facebook researchers have found that 1 in 8 of its users report engaging in compulsive use of social media that impacts their sleep, work, parenting or relationships, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. https://archive.is/zhGBC https://archive.is/zhGBC
- samwillis 3y ago
  Tip of the iceberg.
yung_steezy 3y ago
Not just any politician/legislator: He was deputy PM of the UK for 5 years.
bentcorner 3y ago
IMO it's much worse than cigarettes, in that the ills that Facebook delivers upon us is very nuanced and isn't a concrete object like a cigarette is. It's only when you start pulling all the pieces of FB together (commenting, sharing, liking, friend graphs, etc.) that it starts becoming a bad thing. Maybe data privacy turns out to be the "lower receiver" of social media but I doubt it.
ssnistfajen 3y ago
FB internal researches have already found that Instagram is having negative impacts on the mental health of teenagers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/09/14/facebook-internal-research-found-instagram-can-be-very-harmful-to-young-girls-report-says https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/09/14/faceboo...

jacquesm 3y ago

This is par for the course. Critical voices get hired. It's a 'win win' in the sense that the critical voice gets to shut up and they get some money out of it. /s

aldous 3y ago

Clegg's credibility in the UK is pretty poor due to some well publicised policy u-turns during his tenure in political power, most notable being tuition fees. He went from hero to zero very quickly over there, becoming almost an archetype of the slimey, untrustworthy politician. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/12/nick-clegg-university-tuition-fees-norman-lamb https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/12/nick-clegg-...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
avianlyric 3y ago
I can’t help but feel that Clegg get an unfair rep for that. The tuition fees thing was never going to happen, and was always put out by the Lib Dem’s to apply pressure to the two main parties (Conservative and Labour). The Lib Dem’s then made the fatal mistake of actually making it into government, which they obviously never anticipated happening when they originally made the tuition fees promise. Personally I think Clegg and Lib Dem’s did a fantastic job of reigning in the worst aspects of the Tory party, and the UK public raking them over coals for tuition fees has only benefited the Tories by removing the only thing that stopped them going off the rails completely. Which of course happened immediately after the Tories got rid of the Lib Dem’s and we got Brexit a year later
- samwillis 3y ago
  There may be some truth to that, and they did get the Conservatives to run a referendum on changing the electoral system from "First Past The Post" to "Alternative Vote". In some ways, getting that referendum should have been an incredible win worth sacrificing some short term policies. Unfortunately the campaign for the change was a disaster, and the misinformation and fear mongering about the change pushed the country to vote it down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_Kingdom_Alternative_Vote_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_Kingdom_Alternativ...
  - pjc50 3y ago

vonquant 3y ago

Money is often a compelling argument.

kybernetikos 3y ago

> It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it -- Upton Sinclair

padjo 3y ago

I wish people would stop assuming that all politicians believe in the things they propose. Many are basically sociopaths who just agree with whatever gets them votes.

kderbyma 3y ago
almost all of them are imo - if in office and that office manages 1M or more people. Those aren't usually aren't elected sadly because they aren't willing to sell their souls. There are good odds that a sociopath will start to show up...and who wants to tell others how to live their lives....sociopaths and antisocial people....great choice of leaders but time and again...they lie and cheat and steal and make sure they look good for the pictures....so you elect them to give themselves raise, increase homelessness, increase poverty and spread policies that kill.....and enslave the future.

spuz 3y ago

Nick Clegg isn't mentioned in the article - what are you basing the statement that he's changed his mind on?

Veen 3y ago
I am basing it on my knowledge of the story, which I gained by reading things. Feel free to do the same.