
'Delete Facebook now': WhatsApp co-founder gives a talk at Stanford - elsewhen
https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Delete-Facebook-now-What-s-App-co-founder-13691107.php
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rum3
> 'It was not extraordinarily money-making, and if you have a billion users
> ... you're going to have $1 billion in revenue per year," he said. "That's
> not what Google and Facebook want. They want multibillions of dollars."

> Acton said they pushed for a model that would charge users $1 a year instead
> of using an advertising model for profit.

So first he sells out his company because he is not happy being rich, he wants
to be filthy rich. And now afterwards he is pretending like he actually cares
about users and normal people, and is calling out someone else for being
greedy.

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rando444
He could have been filthy rich if he would have gone through the whole thing.

He walked out on the deal early leaving a huge amount of money on the table
because he disagreed with the direction Facebook was taking with whatsapp.

~~~
rum3
> Acton told Forbes that he left over a dispute with Facebook regarding
> monetization of WhatsApp, and voluntarily left $850 million in unvested
> options on the table by leaving a few months before vesting was completed.
> (Source: Wikipedia)

I am not even sure what this means but it does not change the fact that he co-
founded whatsapp and he did sell it to Facebook in 2014 and it was very clear
even back then that they had no good intentions. Also, he IS filthy rich even
without these 850 million.

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gamblor956
That's rich. Hundreds of people have been hurt out killed because of
misinformation spread by WhatsApp. Moreover, this guy was one of the reasons
that it took so long for WhatsApp to do anything about it.

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rando444
Why should a messaging provider be responsible for the content of private
messages users send each other?

Can you elaborate on what event you are referring to that required corporate
intervention?

~~~
gamblor956
In India, South Africa, Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, there have
been multiple instances of lynch mobs killing innocent men accused of organ
harvesting or kidnapping via messages forwarded through WhatsApp. WhatsApp was
used to organize religious mobs in India resulting in the deaths of dozens.
WhatsApp is currently being used by the BJP in India to organize criminal
campaigns of harassment against non-Hindus, cattle farmers, and even simply
those who criticize or politically oppose the BJP.

After roughly a dozen men were killed in lynch mobs, Facebook was pressured
into making changes to WhatsApp, including limiting how many times a message
could be forwarded, and to who. Facebook also forced WhatsApp to add a unique
identifier to messages so that chains could be traced to their source, so that
future instigators of mob violence could be prosecuted. The WhatsApp founder
disagreed with these changes and promptly began badmouthing Facebook. But
almost immediately after those changes were implemented, the lynch mobs
stopped.

Note that it's pretty easy to get around the unique identifier. WhatsApp is
tied to a phone number, so criminal and political organizations can just buy
burner sims for use with WhatsApp. But it does make a huge difference out in
the countryside, where most people can barely afford a single sim card, let
alone a burner to use for trolling.

