Back in 2005, Google bought Android for $50 million (an absurdly low figure in retrospect) giving it a dominant position in terms of data collection.
Should Disney be forced to dissemble its empire after acquiring Pixar in 2006 and Marvel in 2009? Exxon bought Mobil in 1998 making it the world’s 10th largest company by revenue, perhaps this would be considered an unfair position. Once precedent is set through this example, who is to say how many challenges there would be to other companies who have manufactured themselves into a dominant market position through intelligent acquisition. While it is a valiant crusade to erode the influence of Facebook on today’s society, asking the FTC to force the spin-offs of acquired assets is essentially asking for the key to the Pandora’s box of acquisitions. The issue here is splitting up the Facebook empire. Another demand is focused on increasing privacy rules and data protection, which is reasonable. Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger should be spun off to form separate business, however, the platforms should be forced to allow users on competing social networks to communicate with one another. “The FTC should spin off Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger into competing networks, require interoperability, so we have the freedom to communicate across social networks, and impose strong privacy rules that empower and protect us,” the group states on its new webpage. Facebook is a political punching bag at the moment, and while the Cambridge Analytica scandal is likely to impact the way information is collected and used for targeted advertising, the extremity of Freedom From Facebook’s demands questions whether anyone will take the group seriously.
Considering the size of the fish which are circling Facebook, you have to wonder whether a group harbouring such unrealistic demands will even register on the social media giants radar.Īside from various governments challenging the way in which the company collects, protects and uses personal information, Freedom From Facebook is the latest advocacy group to contest the social media giants dominant position in the world of messaging.
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