Mark Zuckerberg
CEO, Facebook
Dear Mr. Zuckerberg:
Saw your er, ah — what was that? Not an apology, certainly. Bro, you come across as insincere. And, at least as expressed by that effort, fail to grasp the situation.
Facebook is under scrutiny for not only the passing on of 50 million profiles without the people’s permission. FB is under the gun for allowing false and misleading garbage passed off as news on your platform. Facebook allowed Russians to buy ads to influence our election and denied knowing about it, even thought they paid in rubles. Facebook demands our information and gives up little of itself, sending lawyers to Congress — instead of executives like you. (You went to Russia, however, even took off the hoodie for a suit.) FB argues against disclosure of itself but thinks we should give up our privacy. Sorry, but not buying that you were tricked by Cambridge Analytica. It was your responsibility to prevent it from happening.
You said FB would be taking a closer look at the fake news displayed on your site. I reported a particularly egregious offering; FB returned a note saying it didn’t violate your standards. I asked what are those standards. No response. Just crickets. I suspect a human never looked at any of this. You make it hard for people to contact your company directly. Why is that?
“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” you told us. On that we agree.
FB didn’t break laws because there are none in this area. This needs to be changed. We need laws to govern social media sites and treat them like utilities or broadcasters with tough penalties for violations. Not just fines. Jail. The thought of spending time in a 5×9 cage will keep people on their toes and focused.
Your message falls way short of corporate responsibility. You expect us to trust you. Why? You have known about this a while — FB had imbedded employees with the Trump campaign, but you didn’t see a problem, you said, until the New York Times pointed it out. Then you took your sweet time in getting around to this public relations effort, basically a written statement that is not all that convincing.
FB can’t promise not to use data from users, that is the FB business model. We are not your customers, your customers are the advertisers. Selling our data is lucrative. Obviously. You lost $50 billion this week but still have enough to make payroll and hire people to write unconvincing PR statements.
Britain’s Parliament wants to talk to you. You need to travel to Washington and sit before a Congressional hearing, answering their questions under oath, too. It won’t be comfortable, but a word to the wise, they have something you don’t — a subpoena.
Bob
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.