All this gen-y moral relativism is pretty depressing. Zuck's recent catering to autocratic, theocratic, and dictator-led regimes is concerning. You can't have this platform of "give us all your personal info for social sharing - its fun and safe" at the same time you're at the beck and call of every horrible regime.
Marketshare vs ethics is a thorny issue, but I hope this is a wake-up call to those in countries with unfriendly governments about using US web based services. We will sell you out and not care one wit. We are not an idealistic people. The truth here is that the west is enabling these terrible regimes, the same way Cisco largely built the Great Firewall of China. I don't think its fair or wise to just throw our hands in the air and say, "Meh, local law" as we build oppression machines.
Its also amusing how incredibly statist libertarians become when it comes to following the law, regardless of its merit. I guess protest and ideals are for leftists only. This also has me greatly concerned about the future of the Oculus Rift. If we're going to be so friendly with censorship, what does that say about the future of things like the fabled metaverse? Can my friend from Turkey visit my home in the metaverse if I have "wrong" materials inside of it? Will I need to give Zuck read/write access to all my virtual things to make sure no theocrat in Turkey is being offended?
Its sad that geekdom, in general, has shifted from an Abbie Hoffman style "screw the man" to a very conservative "follow the man" as we realized we could make a lot of money from bits and bytes. Its weird seeing people who just a few years ago were completely outraged at the Bush administration, but seem to have no problem with Erdogan. As if Erdogan's party speaks for all Turks the same way Bush hypothetically spoke for all Americans.
Regardless, its a sad day for the millions in Turkey still fighting for their secular values.