Even from the example link the post gives, I am neither friends with Mark Zuckerberg (who has a private list) nor Chris Hughes (who has a public friends list). In this instance I have not had to befriend anyone!

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/friends?and=ChrisHughes

And given that FB has a history of just changing the default security for things without telling anyone, or making the defaults fully open/public, this is a little worrying!