Facebook VP Nick Clegg reacts to co-founder Hughes’ require separation

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“Big in itself isn’t bad,” states Facebook VP Nick Clegg.


James Martin/CNET

Facebook should not be separated; rather it must go through robust brand-new policies. That’s how the world’s biggest social media network is reacting to Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes’ require the business to be pulled apart.

Hughes made his case Thursday in a front-page editorial in The New York Times, stating that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has excessive power which the business has actually ended up being a monopoly.

Now the social media network’s VP for international affairs and interactions, Nick Clegg, has actually reacted with his own op-ed in the Times.

“Mr. Hughes is right that companies should be held accountable for their actions,” Clegg states in the Saturday editorial. “But the challenges he alludes to, including election interference and privacy safeguards, won’t evaporate by breaking up Facebook or any other big tech company. Fixing these problems requires significant resources — and strong new rules.”

The back-and-forth viewpoint pieces come as Facebook is being called out by critics for refraining from doing enough to fight election meddling, false information and hate speech. The business’s huge power, critics argue, requires to be kept in check.

The social media network has actually likewise been assaulted by those who state the business merely scooped up its competitors, instead of innovated to satisfy the difficulties positioned by competitors. Facebook’s quick development has actually been sustained by acquisitions, including its purchases of photo-sharing website Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp, critics state.

Clegg states Facebook has actually been promoting higher oversight of social networks and other tech business. He notes Zuckerberg’s journey to France today to speak to the federal government about prospective legislation, and he raises the exact same talking points pointed out by Zuckerberg in a Washington Post editorial at the end of March.

In that piece, Zuckerberg required “a more active role for governments and regulators” and concentrated on policing damaging material, securing election stability, making sure information personal privacy and permitting customers to quickly move their information from one service to another.

Clegg states critics of Facebook’s size have it incorrect. Though the business is huge, he states, it’s comprised of smaller sized systems, each of which deals with a lot of competitors. Rivals in image and video-sharing, for example, consist of Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube, he states.

“Globally, the context in which social media must be understood, China alone has several large social media companies, including powerhouses like Tencent and Sina,” Clegg composes. “It will seem perverse to people in Europe, and certainly in China, to see American policymakers talking about dismantling one of America’s biggest global players.”

Clegg likewise states that since Facebook is huge, it can put a great deal of resources into policing its different platforms. And he states that antitrust laws aren’t about penalizing management; they have to do with securing customers by providing access to ingenious and affordable items.

The primary function of such laws, he composes, “is to protect consumers by ensuring they have access to low-cost, high-quality products and services. And especially in the case of technology, rapid innovation. That is exactly where Facebook puts its attention: building the best products, free for consumers, and funded by advertisers.”

“Big in itself isn’t bad,” Clegg states. “Success should not be penalized. Our success has given billions of people around the globe access to new ways of communicating with one another. Earning money from ads means we can provide those tools to people for free. Facebook shouldn’t be broken up — but it does need to be held to account.”

CNET’s Queenie Wong added to this report.