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Mark Zuckerberg Is Dictator Of Facebook Nation; There's No Democracy Online: The Pirate Bay Founder (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the the-other-internet dept.

Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is the "dictator" of "the biggest nation in the world," says Peter Sunde, co-founder of the controversial website The Pirate Bay. Sunde, who appeared at The Next Web conference on Friday, added that there is "no democracy" online. From a CNBC report: "People in the tech industry have a lot of responsibilities but they never really discuss these things... Facebook is the biggest nation in the world and we have a dictator, if you look at it from a democracy standpoint, Mark Zuckerberg is a dictator. I did not elect him. He sets the rules," Sunde said. "And really you can't opt out of Facebook. I'm not on Facebook but there are a lot of drawbacks in my offline world. No party invitations, no updates from my friends, people stop talking to you, because you're not on Facebook. So it has real life implications."

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  1. Re:Facebook as a Dictatorship? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sunde's point probably is that Facebook has grown too large and have tentacles into everything, either directly or by buying up startups. Facebook's "gift of internet" to the poor in India that ended up locking in everyone in their walled garden is one example.

    Within that walled garden (which is getting bigger and bigger) they do censor posts and people. They also prohibits you from leaving (as in erasing every information they have about you). As their tentacles dig deeper (or Facebook gets more successful, pick your view) being on their damned platform seems to be more and more important for certain jobs/roles.

    And finally, they certainly DO force me to interact with them. Their fucking scripts and like-buttons are everywhere. I get that it is the businesses that chose to include that near-malware shit in their apps/on their web pages is responsible for being dumb, but that shit would not be there hadn't Facebook grown so large.

    While I get that Facebook does whatever is good for Facebook, just like an amoeba does what is good for an amoeba, it does not mean it is good for the Internet/host of the amoeba. Competition and choice is awesome. Open standards are even better. Gardens without walls are great. Fuck Facebook (and Google).

    Now, where are the barricades? I have a pitchfork to lift over my head while yelling something incomprehensible.