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Comment by nikanj | Hacker News Reader

Why? Because the US thankfully left behind the era of blatant cronyism, and regulatory agencies are allowed to do their jobs again

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I thought the republicans hated Facebook too?

I seem to remember after the first time, everyone here was complaining that the initial case the FTC put together was so incoherent there were no surprises it failed. I could be mis-remembering, but that was my general impression though I didn't follow it that closely.

Just sounded like incompetence rather than cronyism, but that could be from decades of underfunding.

All of their talk is performative. Most of their voters are found on Facebook. GOP knows that Facebook is by far their most important tool for organizing and rallying their base.

They would never admit it, but they also know that Facebook is an important segment of the right wing pipeline, which moves moderate conservatives into the rabid, paranoid, die-hard right wing where they will stay (and vote) forever, which keeps the Overton window moving to the right.

Zuckerberg has a well known bias towards the right, and spent a lot of time schmoozing GOP leadership.

No, Zuckerberg has a well known bias towards Zuckerberg.

What you're seeing is not any sort of well thought out advocacy of right wing ideology: he and Facebook have sometimes been dismayed when they stepped too far in that direction and have gotten used by political operatives (from this or other countries!). Nobody wants to be a pawn in other people's games, least of all Zuckerberg.

It looks like Zuckerberg leans to the right because he is leaning away from certain parts of the Left: in particular, he's gonna be extremely wary of anything Elizabeth Warren (or to a lesser extent Bernie, the Squad, etc) has in mind concerning regulation and trustbusting.

Zuckerberg's going to treat trustbusters as an existential threat, and I don't believe he has the moral compass to care who he allies with as long as he gets his way. For that reason, Zuckerberg and Facebook can end up allying with outright fascists in hopes of protecting themselves from communists. I don't know if they've got the historical perspective to understand how unwise that is, but I do know they're a key ally for any fascist, anywhere. Right wingers really need Zuck and Facebook, or something like it.

> Zuckerberg has a well known bias towards Zuckerberg.

> Nobody wants to be a pawn in other people's games, least of all Zuckerberg.

> It looks like Zuckerberg leans to the right because he is leaning away from certain parts of the Left

I feel this is very likely a spot on portrayal of Zuckerberg’s motivations/ethics. I doubt he has any allegiance to any political party, what guides him is self-preservation of both his creation and himself.

He’s not that different from several famous tech founders before him if we are honest.

That was a lot of Zuckerbergs

Oh cmon. You know what happens if you say zuckerberg 5 times while looking at a mirror

I'm not sure if I want to know what happens when you do this.

I'm just glad mirrors don't have a memory or a replay button. That would be awkward.

Trustbusting/anti-monopoly are communist?

I think that might have been an allusion to Weinmar Germany where industry leaders did end up allying with fascists to protect themselves from communists.

The era of cronyism and nepotism is very much still alive, even outside of the US. The only difference is the large drop in clear corruption, although don't make the mistake of believing that is anywhere near gone.

> left behind the era of blatant cronyism

How so?

This has yet to be seen. There are good signs, but talk is never cheaper than from a Democratic administration. That being said, I was as surprised as everyone when the FTC refiled rather than turning their hands up and shrugging.

...did something big happen that I missed?

But for how long?

So will the Biden admin handle big tech as forcefully and skillfully as it did Afghanistan?

You mean say what they are going to do and then actually do it? We can hope so.

>Because the US thankfully left behind the era of blatant cronyism

Bwahahahahahaha. There really is no way to respond to that statement.

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