Social Media Regulation: Speak of the Devil and in Walks Zuck

http://www.counterpunch.org/2019/04/03/social-media-regulation-speak-of-the-devil-and-in-walks-zuck/
Date Written:  2019-04-03
Publisher:  CounterPunch
Year Published:  2019
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX23601

Social media giants such as Facebook support government regulation as a means to secure their monopolies.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

In a recent column on the mating dance between Big Government and Big Tech, I noted that "Big Tech wants to be regulated by Big Governments because regulation makes it more difficult and expensive for new competitors to enter the market...."

Zuckerberg's first proposed regulatory area is "harmful content." "Regulation," he writes, "could set baselines for what's prohibited and require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum."

Who's best equipped to build such systems? Facebook, with assets of nearly $100 billion and annual revenues of $56 billion? Or a new site started by some middle class guy (or even an affluent Harvard student like Mark Zuckerberg 15 years ago) with a great idea and some spare time?