Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week • Hacker News Board

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#101

Post by Transfinity » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

azan_ wrote: post #42

blagie wrote: post #9

I think what's missing here is elderly. Arguably, that's even more harmful.

How would hurting elderly be more harmful than hurting children? I know that we are about to live in gerontocracy, but it’s still a wild statement to make.

The DOJ pays a lot of attention to elder abuse: https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/about-elder-abuse

I don't know that I would agree it's _worse_ than what FB does to children. But there's clearly a parallel, in that a vulnerable segment of society is prey to a careless corporation and the heinous ecosystem of scamers and abusers they foster.

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#102

Post by duped » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

digitaltrees wrote: post #88

tikimcfee wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dissolve the company. Jail the C levels. End of story. If this ends in another fine to put into a ledger book I'll scream. The fine ends up back in their pockets in months in the form of loans and grants and tax avoidances and so on. The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology. It does not need the ideas of the people that are there. If you are still working there, you are comp…

America has a profound problem. It defines companies as legal persons with all the same rights. But it also applies the same restrictions and punishments as people without factoring in the underlying advantages a company has when breaking the law for profit. 1. Perpetual existence means breaking the law is a short term problem that is well worth the long term benefit — companies essentially live for ever and out live…

> it defines companies as legal persons with all the same rights

It absolutely does not but people keep repeating this on social media

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#103

Post by MissTake » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

TFNA wrote: post #82

tikimcfee wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dissolve the company. Jail the C levels. End of story. If this ends in another fine to put into a ledger book I'll scream. The fine ends up back in their pockets in months in the form of loans and grants and tax avoidances and so on. The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology. It does not need the ideas of the people that are there. If you are still working there, you are comp…

"The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology." Meta owns WhatsApp, which is core infrastructure in many countries now where it has basically replaced the PSTN. If WhatsApp went down without a long transition process first, it would take myriad small businesses down with it. I would love to see harsh punishments and jailed executives, but the world still needs the company for th…

A myriad of small businesses also use Facebook as their public facing website.

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#104

Post by mmooss » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:39 PM UTC

> The jury’s role is advisory, which means they will give recommendations to the presiding judge, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will make the final decision on the verdict and damages.

What kind of trial is that, and what provision is there for it in the law? Who gets to choose that? The trial is in US federal court in Oakland [0].

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/18/meta-chil...

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#105

Post by bigyabai » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:48 PM UTC

axelthegerman wrote: post #90

TFNA wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology." Meta owns WhatsApp, which is core infrastructure in many countries now where it has basically replaced the PSTN. If WhatsApp went down without a long transition process first, it would take myriad small businesses down with it. I would love to see harsh punishments and jailed executives, but the world still needs the company for th…

We really don't. If that finally does happen, people are quick to adapt to change it will use one of the many alternatives, maybe even one that's interoperable or open so we're not in the same mess five years later

> it will use one of the many alternatives, maybe even one that's interoperable or open

If the collapse of Twitter is any indication, it might just drive people to even worse and more exploitative platforms instead.

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#106

Post by andai » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:49 PM UTC

gtowey wrote: post #92

Aurornis wrote: post #58

In the opening sentence: > according to a lawyer who is prosecuting the world’s largest social media company. The headline makes it sound like something internal at Meta got revealed. The catchy four-H phrase is the clever hook the lawyer came up with to try to hold the jury’s mind through the case. If you’re unfamiliar with how these trials work, the lawyers are trying to create a compelling narrative to support the…

The antidote to that would be for Meta to reveal all their internal communications. But they'll never do that because their own words and actions are likely far more damning than any story the DOJ could weave. The trend I have noticed is anytime the actual truth leaks from these actors and companies, it's so much more evil than I could have imagined. Like the recent tell-all book from someone who worked directly with…

> I mean, it's not like we could just demand to see the code that's governing our lives. What right do we have to poke around in Facebook's private affairs like that?

-xkcd 1390

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#107

Post by toast0 » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

TFNA wrote: post #82

tikimcfee wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dissolve the company. Jail the C levels. End of story. If this ends in another fine to put into a ledger book I'll scream. The fine ends up back in their pockets in months in the form of loans and grants and tax avoidances and so on. The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology. It does not need the ideas of the people that are there. If you are still working there, you are comp…

"The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology." Meta owns WhatsApp, which is core infrastructure in many countries now where it has basically replaced the PSTN. If WhatsApp went down without a long transition process first, it would take myriad small businesses down with it. I would love to see harsh punishments and jailed executives, but the world still needs the company for th…

> If WhatsApp went down without a long transition process first

The transition mechanism is that your contacts are in your phone address book, and you can call or text them or find them on other platforms indexed by phone number. Although, not for username contacts.

Would it be disruptive? Yes. Would it be world ending? No.

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#108

Post by anigbrowl » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:51 PM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #58

In the opening sentence: > according to a lawyer who is prosecuting the world’s largest social media company. The headline makes it sound like something internal at Meta got revealed. The catchy four-H phrase is the clever hook the lawyer came up with to try to hold the jury’s mind through the case. If you’re unfamiliar with how these trials work, the lawyers are trying to create a compelling narrative to support the…

Quite. PEople complain about AI language being weird and unnatural, but imho it's just the distillation of this cultural habit of trying to turn everything into a brand, slogan, or mnemonic. When you have a society that generally dislies reading, everything becomes a pitch.

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#109

Post by lrem » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

MissTake wrote: post #103

TFNA wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology." Meta owns WhatsApp, which is core infrastructure in many countries now where it has basically replaced the PSTN. If WhatsApp went down without a long transition process first, it would take myriad small businesses down with it. I would love to see harsh punishments and jailed executives, but the world still needs the company for th…

A myriad of small businesses also use Facebook as their public facing website.

I find that truly mystifying. I won’t go through the hassle of opening an account on any platform just to see some dumbed down website. I can’t be the only one, can I?

Re: Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta's alleged strategy laid out in first week

#110

Post by SoftTalker » Sat, Aug 22, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

MissTake wrote: post #103

TFNA wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The world no longer needs Facebook and its leaders. It does not need its technology." Meta owns WhatsApp, which is core infrastructure in many countries now where it has basically replaced the PSTN. If WhatsApp went down without a long transition process first, it would take myriad small businesses down with it. I would love to see harsh punishments and jailed executives, but the world still needs the company for th…

A myriad of small businesses also use Facebook as their public facing website.

Only out of convenience. There are many alternatives, and search engines will find them. And (although it won't happen) if Facebook were ordered to shut down, hundreds of entrepreneurs would offer alternatives for "small business web presence"