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Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

politico.eu

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Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#11

Post by gaius »

textmode wrote: post #5

"Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the Liberal ALDE group, says the activity of fictional social media company the Circle in a 2014 novel seems "very near to the reality" of Facebook's role today." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circle_(2017_film) "German Christian democrat MEP Manfred Weber, who leads the centre-right EPP group, ... asks Mark Zuckerberg why the company has not stopped access to user data to all develope…

t feels like there are new competitors coming up every day

Such as Instagram and WhatsApp? It's not competition if you just buy them up as soon as they start to compete...

Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#13

Post by bproven »

jedberg wrote: post #7
QueensGambit wrote: post #3

I have a controversial view, correct me if I am wrong. I think democracy has a major flaw, because, most people are selfish/unfair and most likely vote for populist leaders. But, it has been so far saved by media because of the elitist journalists who want the world to be a fair place and were able to convince people to reject populist leaders. With social media, these journalists are bypassed and the populist leader…

It all has to do with education. Educated people are naturally more skeptical of their media and what the sources are. Before social media, it was admitted a lot harder for unreliable sources to get an audience, so that skepticism was less critical. But I think it will come back. Education is the antidote to social media news. Deity willing, the next government will see that and push for better education.

Exactly - also increasing focus on critical thinking skills.

Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#15

Post by GreeniFi »

DavideNL wrote: post #4

The hearing was a big joke. Zuckerberg simply avoided answering difficult questions by talking about something else entirely...

What did I deduce from today’s hearing: 1. The weird question/answer format was probably a negotiated condition of Zuckerberg appearing. 2. This underlines the power of Zuckerberg: setting conditions for the EU Parliament is quite a show of force. 3. This condition was probably set because Zuckerberg is a very poor spokesperson. The end of the session was quite frankly bizarre when Zuckerberg refused to take questions. 4. There is quite clearly a mood for heavy regulation and anti-trust action to break-up the monopoly. Zuckerberg’s odd behavior will result in the sharpening of EU swords, not their scabbarding. 5. I have no idea what this type of activity will mean for EU/US relations. The US will be keen to protect homegrown global monopolies. The EU must break them before they break Europe. 5.

Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#16

Post by GreeniFi »

QueensGambit wrote: post #3

I have a controversial view, correct me if I am wrong. I think democracy has a major flaw, because, most people are selfish/unfair and most likely vote for populist leaders. But, it has been so far saved by media because of the elitist journalists who want the world to be a fair place and were able to convince people to reject populist leaders. With social media, these journalists are bypassed and the populist leader…

I would say that your assumption about the nature of humans is a construct of the society you have grown up in and the institutions which have shaped the behavior of your fellow-citizens.

Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#17

Post by bachbach »

jedberg wrote: post #7
QueensGambit wrote: post #3

I have a controversial view, correct me if I am wrong. I think democracy has a major flaw, because, most people are selfish/unfair and most likely vote for populist leaders. But, it has been so far saved by media because of the elitist journalists who want the world to be a fair place and were able to convince people to reject populist leaders. With social media, these journalists are bypassed and the populist leader…

It all has to do with education. Educated people are naturally more skeptical of their media and what the sources are. Before social media, it was admitted a lot harder for unreliable sources to get an audience, so that skepticism was less critical. But I think it will come back. Education is the antidote to social media news. Deity willing, the next government will see that and push for better education.

> Educated people are naturally more skeptical of their media and what the sources are.

I have not found that to be the case and I think you should scrutinize that assumption very carefully.

Perhaps a majority of intellectuals in the West thought the Soviet Union was a step forward - again and again it's the 'smart' people who get the big things wrong.

Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#18

Post by zerostar07 »

GreeniFi wrote: post #15
DavideNL wrote: post #4

The hearing was a big joke. Zuckerberg simply avoided answering difficult questions by talking about something else entirely...

What did I deduce from today’s hearing: 1. The weird question/answer format was probably a negotiated condition of Zuckerberg appearing. 2. This underlines the power of Zuckerberg: setting conditions for the EU Parliament is quite a show of force. 3. This condition was probably set because Zuckerberg is a very poor spokesperson. The end of the session was quite frankly bizarre when Zuckerberg refused to take question…

How can the EU break up foreign monopolies?

Re: Facebook CEO speaks to select members of European Parliament

#20

Post by pell »

QueensGambit wrote: post #3

I have a controversial view, correct me if I am wrong. I think democracy has a major flaw, because, most people are selfish/unfair and most likely vote for populist leaders. But, it has been so far saved by media because of the elitist journalists who want the world to be a fair place and were able to convince people to reject populist leaders. With social media, these journalists are bypassed and the populist leader…

Democracy's flaws have been studied for thousands of years. You can find a very detailed critique from Plato for example. All of his arguments are still true today. The problem is that there really isn't a better alternative when it comes to letting people self-govern on a big scale. Plato's solution was a government of the ones who had the complete truth, but he himself was doubtful whether such an administration would be realistic and flawless.
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