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2) Or a government actor, given the revolving door between Facebook and the government, the army of lobbyists, the reliance of each and every political candidate on Facebook's advertising, and Facebook's influence on our democratic discourse. But sure, the digital industry is just trying to optimize time spent on their products, and these other larger concerns are besides the point. /s

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I propose we make a new razor: Never assume machiavellianism when self-interest will suffice.

throwaway5167 didn’t imply that such companies are machiavellian rather than profit-seeking though, but that their profit-seeking nature leads them to be tolerant, even welcoming, of partnerships with actors who are machiavellian (ie driven by spying and propaganda) when that allows for more profit to be made, which is the worrying part

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