Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, calls for dismantling the social network. In an article published in the New York Times, he believes that the power held by Mark Zuckerberg, who holds 60% of the group's shares, has become much too important. The man is asking the US government to put laws and regulatory agencies in place to control Facebook's growing hold.
"Fifteen years ago I co-founded Facebook at Harvard, and I have not worked for the company for a decade. But I have a feeling of hatred and responsibility, "says Chris Hughes, Mark Zuckerberg's former roommate at Harvard, in the New York Times column. Officially, he still holds the position of consultant for Facebook. "The financial benefits I gained from my work at Facebook have changed the trajectory of my life" admits Chris Hughes, who sold all his shares in 2012.
Until 2016, he claims to have "watched with admiration the development of society." That year, the Cambridge Analytica scandal led him to become aware of the "dangers of Facebook's monopoly." In his argument, he points several times to Mark Zuckerberg's "obsession for growth", which he has not seen since the summer of 2017. According to him, the current CEO of the group has knowingly "sacrificed the security and privacy of its users for the click ".
For Chris Hughes, Mark Zuckerberg is therefore directly responsible for the excesses of the social network. "The government must absolutely hold Mark to account," he says. "Mark's power is incredible, and far surpasses anyone else in government or the private sector," the co-founder accuses, all the more concerned that the CEO is "surrounded by a team that strengthens him in his beliefs instead of challenging them ". With 40% of the firm's shares, the board is not strong enough to go against Zuckerberg's decisions. It is more "a panel of advisers than a counter-power". Hughes tempers his remarks by saying that Mark Zuckerberg is still "a nice man and a good person".
Chris Hughes accuses Zuckerberg of being responsible for Facebook drifts
Until 2016, he claims to have "watched with admiration the development of society." That year, the Cambridge Analytica scandal led him to become aware of the "dangers of Facebook's monopoly." In his argument, he points several times to Mark Zuckerberg's "obsession for growth", which he has not seen since the summer of 2017. According to him, the current CEO of the group has knowingly "sacrificed the security and privacy of its users for the click ".
For Chris Hughes, Mark Zuckerberg is therefore directly responsible for the excesses of the social network. "The government must absolutely hold Mark to account," he says. "Mark's power is incredible, and far surpasses anyone else in government or the private sector," the co-founder accuses, all the more concerned that the CEO is "surrounded by a team that strengthens him in his beliefs instead of challenging them ". With 40% of the firm's shares, the board is not strong enough to go against Zuckerberg's decisions. It is more "a panel of advisers than a counter-power". Hughes tempers his remarks by saying that Mark Zuckerberg is still "a nice man and a good person".
Facebook: Chris Hughes calls on the government to dismantle the social network
"Facebook won the prize of domination. It is worth more than $ 500 billion and, in my estimation, represents more than 80% of the global income of social networks "adds the co-founder, for whom this monopoly is a direct result of the policy of his friend Mark. To assert its dominance, Facebook shamelessly copies the ideas of its competitors, as we have seen many times with Snapchat. In other cases, the group simply buys the platform that shadows it. In 2014, Facebook got its hands on WhatsApp.
"Facebook dominates the social media industry, it is not accountable to the market," warns the forum. Faced with the growing grip of the social network, described as a "leviathan that destroys the entrepreneurial spirit," and the lack of competition, Chris Hughes asks the US government to act and dismantle Facebook. The co-founder wants to split the group and make Instagram and WhatsApp independent. In the same vein, he asks the state to curb the growth of Facebook by prohibiting any new acquisition. With these measures, he wants to allow the competition to counterbalance the power of the social network, which has 2.32 billion active users each month.
Finally, Chris Hughes also calls for the creation of a federal agency regulating the giants of the Web, to control the GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon). The proposals of the co-founder of Facebook join the words of the Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who wants to dismantle all the giants of tech. What do you think of the cautions of the co-founder of Facebook? Should the government regulate the American firm? We are waiting for your opinion in the comments.
