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Comment by talltimtom | Hacker News Reader

> feel their sovereignty is threatened by Facebook

That’s kind of like saying that coka-cola feels threatened if the CEO reports an illegal lemonade stand that’s blocking his driveway.

The scales are not just different, they are absurdly different. UK is NOT afraid that they will lose sovereignty because of Facebook. Thats just ridicules.

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If there was a national scandal in the UK I can almost guarantee the coke CEO would be out placating politicians. Lip service is important in politics as is keeping up appearances.

We all knew that the UK didn’t have much real power over these US multinationals, but Zuckerberg made it visible. A government looking weak In the face of a single 36 year old is a sovereignty issue. It’s a huge loss of credibility at home and abroad. It has shockingly little to do with the underlying issue.

Well, if any EU country finds any evidence, they now have a huge stick to beat him/Facebook with (GDPR). Not that they don't deserve it.

Social media were the future of democracy up until Trump and Brexit happened, now they are the world's greatest threat to democracy.

A populist beat the incumbent and started taking America in a direction in which the majority of the voters represented by the electoral college approve of, is that not a success of American democracy? Or should are we deciding what’s right and wrong based on a different yardstick now?

You can bet both parties are going to use similar tactics next election.

It still is the future of democracy, just not the version the media and legacy nations had in mind.

And lead was a perfectly fine material for cups and plumbing once, so that in itself says nothing.

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