Demands for the unbundling of the big internet companies are getting louder after the revelations about Facebook. The hour-long failure has fueled the criticism. The Facebook boss weighs it down.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has rejected the charge that the online network puts profits above the well-being of its users.
“That’s just not true,” Zuckerberg wrote in an email to employees published on Tuesday. As an example, he cited a change Facebook made a few years ago to show users more posts from friends and family instead of viral videos. It was the first time that Zuckerberg commented in detail on the allegations of a whistleblower and investigative reports.
The Facebook founder defended the plan to develop a version of Instagram for ten to twelve year olds. “The reality is that young people use technology.” Instead of ignoring this, tech companies should develop services that meet their needs while ensuring a safe environment.
Former Facebook manager testified
The former Facebook manager Frances Haugen, who appears as a whistleblower, had recently testified at a hearing in the US Senate. There she called on politicians to force the online network to be more transparent. “Facebook shapes our perception of the world through the selection of information we see.” So far, only the group knows how to personalize the users’ newsfeed.
The 37-year-old worked for Facebook for around two years and previously worked for Google and the photo platform Pinterest. Her accusation that Facebook knew from internal studies that Instagram was damaging to the mental health of some teenagers – but did not take consistent action against it – caused particular outrage in the United States. Zuckerberg criticized that the study results had been taken out of context. A “false narrative was constructed that we don’t care”.
Hamburg’s data protection officer Ulrich Kühn called for greater regulation of social networks. “The consistent enforcement of data protection requirements in Europe would be a necessary first step,” said Kühn of the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Wednesday). His authority is responsible for Facebook in Germany. The failure on Monday made it clear how much Facebook has now linked its social networks. “That all major services – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram – were affected at the same time, shows the close proximity of these products and their ever greater merging with one another.”
Only compatible independence from a European provider
“The ongoing efforts to interlink the services in terms of content and to use data from one service for the other weigh more heavily,” said Kühn. Here, his authority at European level could not enforce to prohibit the use of personal WhatsApp data for Facebook purposes. The failure also shows how much Facebook is operated in Europe, contrary to other statements from the USA. «The apparent independence of the European provider Facebook Ireland Ltd. and WhatsApp Ireland Ltd. consists mainly on paper. “
Technical problems with Facebook and its daughters WhatsApp and Instagram led to an outage of around six hours on Monday. Younger people in particular reacted with frustration. According to a YouGov survey, 46 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds felt restricted in their communication. In the general population, a quarter of those surveyed said they felt restricted.
As a consequence of the failure of the Facebook services, consumer advocates are calling for more alternatives. “Tech giants such as Google, Apple or Amazon control access to trading venues and digital ecosystems from their strong market position,” said the head of the Federal Association of Consumer Centers, Klaus Müller, of the Funke media group. Consumers and competitors are often dependent on their services.
Required interfaces for messenger services
To reduce this dependency, Müller called for an interface requirement for messenger services so that different systems can work together. This would enable users of various services to communicate without necessarily having to switch to WhatsApp.
Müller has great hopes for an EU initiative: the Digital Markets Act. With the proposed law, the preference of their own products by the corporations must be prevented, demanded the consumer advocate. Users would have real freedom of choice, “if, for example, platforms are no longer allowed to prevent them from deleting pre-installed apps or using alternative app stores”.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
