It’s sad but true: Facebook has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted to handle its own data and privacy problems. Even the company seems to know it, setting up its own independent “supreme court” oversight board. And that’s why, over the past year, the social media giant has faced increasing pressure to submit to government regulation. Another prominent critic advocated for just such a solution this week, blasting the company and comparing the effect it has had on society to that of cigarettes.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said that he soon expects a “fundamental reconceptualization” of Facebook’s role in the world, and that it isn’t surprising to see Facebook become the target of criticism since it “does not fundamentally do good things.”
“Well, you can see Facebook is the new cigarettes for our society. It’s something that badly needs to be regulated,” Benioff told CNN. “They’re certainly not exactly about truth in advertising. Even they have said that. That’s why we’re really in squarely a crisis of trust, when the core vendor themselves cannot say that trust is our most important value.”
Facebook is used to criticism from lawmakers, but this is a particularly stinging assessment considering it comes from another tech leader. Perhaps this pressure is a sign that Facebook may have to genuinely start listening to its critics soon.
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