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Comment by ashton314 | Hacker News Reader

Are there any analogous corporate breakups in history? Any tech companies that have been broken up as these people are suggesting?

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AT&T and Bell were broken up, but that was because it was a monopoly.[1] I don't think Facebook is a monopoly though.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System

Who are Facebook's competitors?

What is Facebook's market? Social media or advertising? If the main "clients/users" are the typical average Joe, and the service is free, does it count as a monopoly (At least in terms of anti-trust laws)?

That it doesn't own? In the US you could probably could argue:

LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, Youtube, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr. I be they would also argue Google, which would be true from an advertising perspective.

Also Standard oil back in 1911[1]. Those are the only 2 cases I'm aware of in US history.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil#Breakup

It does effectively have a monopoly on online identity. Organizations like Uber and Airbnb depend on FB accounts for trust.

But I think the most effective way to take down the monopoly isn't by regulating, because it may hurt consumers. Instead the government could help make FB obsolete.

If people could "login with us.gov" instead of "login with Facebook", I think most people would.

If there's any dependency it's a soft dependency. I don't have FB and I use uber and airbnb.

It may be harder as a host/driver, but you're right that they may have fixed that dependency. Back in 2008, it was one of the main ways you could trust the car or house that you're about to step into.

> If people could "login with us.gov" instead of "login with Facebook", I think most people would.

Oh hell no. Bad enough that Facebook knows every step I do on the Internet thanks to ubiquitous trackers - but the government? No way. This is China's Social Credit Score waiting to happen.

I've never had a facebook account. My online identity is fine thank you.

Also, why should the government help make any private company "obsolete"? Do you really want the government deciding which private company succeeds or not? So from 2008 to 2016, obama gets to decide which company gets to exist. Now you want Trump to decide which companies exist? I can't believe there are people here actually advocating for government control of the private sector.

I'd rather not use a "gov" account for anything but "gov" related things. Nevermind that the government tends to be a bureaucratic mess, it's also a major privacy and security problem. Facebook is a spying and data collecting behemoth. Lets solve it by having the government spy on us.

When did the hacker ethos become "government is the solution for everything" so "let's trust government"?

If we wanted a government login for everything, we'd already have it. I don't know if you are american or not, but I'm willing to bet that most of us don't want a government login or identity for the internet.

I've never had a facebook account. My online identity is fine thank you.

How's your shadow profile?

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/11/17225482/facebook-shadow-...

I'm almost certain facebook has no "shadow profile" of me. Can't say the same about google though whose reach stretches far deeper and wider than facebook's. And that's not a facebook problem. That's a internet/social media problem. I'm more worried about google's "shadow profile" or my ISP's "shadow profile" or my financial insitution's "shadow profile" than facebook's. Also, I don't see how "breaking up" facebook would do anything to solve the privacy problems.

> If people could "login with us.gov" instead of "login with Facebook"

No way. I trust the government less than I trust Facebook to maintain privacy and not abuse power. And I don't trust Facebook.

Possibly you are unaware that some Internet users do not reside in the US?

While I appreciate your sarcasm, this sort of thing will need to be done on a nation-by-nation basis. Take it up with your own damn parliament or whatever.. you don't need to wait on Silicon Valley for a fix.

When it comes to online social identity, the US is years behind China anyways.

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