
Senators have no idea how Facebook works, want to regulate it anyway - Fins
https://reason.com/blog/2018/04/10/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-senate
======
Slansitartop
> Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.) asked whether Facebook had any major
> competitors. Zuckerberg tried to explain that the company competes across
> different categories related to Facebook's several main functions—as a tech
> giant, against Google, as a social media site, against Twitter, and so
> on—which led Graham to fret about Facebook being a monopoly and thus
> incapable of self-regulation.

IIRC, Graham had a good point. At his point, Facebook has no real competitors
that offer an equivalent service.

To continue the analogy from the question: Zuck's dodge was a lot like a
monopolist automaker trying to pass off Sony as a competitor because they both
sell products with AM/FM radios.

------
oldmancoyote
This is why selling access to people based on private personal data should be
a crime with prison sentences for the responsible parties. Motivate the people
in charge to find a solution. Don't tell them your solution.

------
SlowBro
Aren't these the same people who were being asked to regulate ISPs during the
net neutrality debate?

~~~
Fins
Aren't they also the same people you (generic you, in case you're not
American) voted in?

~~~
SlowBro
Yep, not me personally, but a majority of voters in my country chose these
senators.

~~~
Fins
Exactly. And they are the ones who write laws for us. Some even far more
important than ISP regulations or what to do with Facebook.

~~~
SlowBro
Exactly. Maybe we should not ask them to regulate what they do not understand?

~~~
Fins
That's sort of their job, to regulate things.

I was gong to say trying to elect people who at least know what they don't
know might be a better approach.

