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Facebook Should Be 'Regulated Like Cigarette Industry', Salesforce CEO Says (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the strong-voices dept.

Facebook should be regulated like a cigarette company, because of the addictive and harmful properties of social media, according to Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff. From a report: Social networks would be regulated "exactly the same way that you regulated the cigarette industry," Benioff told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "Here's a product -- cigarettes -- they're addictive, they're not good for you, maybe there's all kinds of different forces trying to get you to do certain things. There's a lot of parallels. I think that, for sure, technology has addictive qualities that we have to address, and that product designers are working to make those products more addictive, and we need to rein that back as much as possible," he added. Benioff, who founded B2B cloud computing company Salesforce in 1999, and is now worth more than $4bn, suggested that regulation of some form was inevitable for the technology industry. "We're the same as any other industry," he said. "Financial services, consumer product goods, food -- in technology, the government's going to have to be involved. There is some regulation but there probably will have to be more."

6 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Keep your hands off the internet. by thedarb · · Score: 3, Funny

    No. Just no. Facebook is a form of free speech. The internet is an platform for free speech. Stop trying to regulate free speech!

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  2. Re:Tobacco regulation, iffy constitutionally. by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The "Second hand" argument only works because smokers are a minority.

    Try regulating something enjoyed by the majority, like automobiles, because of the 'secondhand' damage they do to your health, and watch society balk.

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    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  3. school zone by jwhyche · · Score: 3

    You mean I won't be able to post to facebook within 200 feet of a school. And I'll start seeing my tax dollars used to fund obnoxious adds on tv now?

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    I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  4. Hard to take seriously. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's hard to take a CEO seriously when their own products promote vendor lock-in. It's literally a "leaving us feels difficult" versus a "leaving us is difficult" situation.

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  5. Actually by DaMattster · · Score: 3

    Facebook should just die! It should go the fuck away!

  6. Re:Tobacco regulation, iffy constitutionally. by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    5. People who have better things to do with their time than disclose every personal detail about their lives on facebook

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    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'