Comments

1

Bashing Facebook is the current fad and Eli smells a Pulitzer but regulating speech out of existence is very harmful to our democracy and UnAmerican.

2

@1: Absolutely.

4

Keep up the good work, Eli. This needs to be tracked and written about: Facebook and Google need to be monitored for the constant rule breaking they partake in, particularly at the cost of public transparency.

5

Thank you for doing this, Mr. Sanders. This is exactly why we still need quality journalism in America.

6

How is it that fb can over-rule Washington state Citizens?
Is it because they're so freaking BIG?
They don't wanna Comply,
Perhaps they should leave.

Buh-Bye, fb!
Not gonna miss ya.

7

@1 -- I LOVE the smell of a Pulitzer, in the morning.

'Specially when "free speech" is so fucking Expensive, these days.

8

Dying to hear from the so-called right on this,
with their near-hysterical love for individual State's Rights.

12

To those grumbling: overturn Citizens United.

13

This is getting hilarious.

If Facebook doesn't comply, would Facebook be banned in Washinton? How could that possibly work? I mean how do you make that ban operational on the techie side of things?

If Facebook were to be fined for not complying, it would very likely scofflaw the fine and close all its Washington-based facilities and back-end operations, taking all those nicely-paying techie jobs elsewhere. Seems like a pyrrhic victory for the state, doncha think?

14

13

Were fb a far far Lefty monopoly,
running anti-NeoLib/Con propaganda/adverts
would your reaction be consistent?

15

Seeking refuge in one state to avoid regulation in another state while simultaneously appealing to federal law for protection from state law. That's our Federalism in action. Wisdom of the founders forsooth.

I kind of like the idea of an entire massive corporation living as a fugitive, though.

16

Is Zucky on a booster seat? Looks like a toddler in tantrum.

17

13

14 was not quite to the point; allow me a retry:

[Were fb to] "... close all its Washington-based facilities and back-end operations, taking all those nicely-paying techie jobs elsewhere. Seems like a pyrrhic victory for the state, doncha think?

So, you'd trade jobs for Democracy?

18

@14: Assuming anyone can parse your haiku noun stack, probably.

19

@18 -- nice Try!

20

“ConHugeCo has a policy against dumping effluent from our chemical factories into your drinking water, so Washington State’s environmental laws don’t apply to our effluent.”

@1: No one’s regulating free speech. We’re asking for regulations on commercial transactions to be followed, so we can know who is paying for advertisements. TV and radio stations follow these laws all the time.

21

@20: True, but there's also a granularity to the regulations that warrant negotiating.

22

17 - We've pretty much already done that in Seattle, with open arms and a smile on our greedy faces.

23

What earthly argument is there that old media should follow our laws and new media doesn't need to?

24

@22: So we should continue to? And as Mtn Beaver asks, why do you think that we shuold have one set of laws for print and TV and another for online media?

25

They sell the advertising but also claim that they can't be held responsible for what customers do with the ad buys. Neat trick. Apparently there's nobody keeping or analyzing any sales records in their accounts receivable. It's a mystery, how do they stay afloat?

26

When one can buy trainloads of lawyers,
one can obey Laws, or do otherwise, with Impunity

fb's a fucking Outlaw.
Out robbin' Democracy
from US.

That's some Olympic-grade Chicanery there.
Well Played, Mister Zuckerburgher.
(Do you have some Balls on Display, somewhere, too?)

Oh, and, thanks for selling all our shit.
Not that you hid that.
Buyer Beware, eh?

27

This is so like Zuckerberg's general m.o. It's against policy so if we do it we haven't done it and can't be responsible for having done it because it's against, etc. Like his remodeling job in SanFrancisco. Jerk.

29

@21: Please give examples of this “granularity,” and why it excuses FaceBook from complying with exactly the same laws with which KING-TV and KIRO radio have complied for decades.

@28: Please learn the difference between paid-for content and editorials/comments. Understanding that difference is key to understanding why FaceBook’s arguments are bogus.

30

Fun fact: I do not have a Facebook account.

Sad fact: most people who bitch about Facebook do.

31

Well, here’s the big test, Bob. You want to be Governor Ferguson after Inslee leaves, and you’ve staked your claim by standing up to Trump. That had th advantage of both appearing brave while not really risking anything.

But do you have the sack to take on Zuck? You see, this is where the stakes are real. Trump can at most Tweet something that will only make your supporters love you mor. Zuck, on the other hand, has your dick pics. And that embarassing post you deleted back in 2010.

Well, Bob?

32

@26 kristofarian et al: I have a Facebook account, my website can link to Facebook, but I am not buying anything on Facebook, nor being directly billed by FB (I pay a separate account for my web advertising)). I have not responded to any FB ads. Is there anything I should be particularly concerned about at this point? I absolutely refuse to have anything to do with Twitter.

@12: Thank you, Phoebe. Agreed and seconded.
@16 Call Me Scott: I noticed that, too. The insanely rich, corrupt and power abusing usually are, particularly the current illegal occupant of the White Trash House.
@23 Mtn. Beaver and @24 Lissa: Excellent questions! Eli, what are your thoughts?
@31:You're wandering a little too far here. Leave Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson alone. He knows more about calling checkmate than you do.

33

@28 It's not a CDA issue. The issue is regulation of commerce with respect to existing law.

@32 The value to Facebook in your account isn't you buying anything from the site but gathering information to generate a profile about what you do not only on Facebook but on the Web in general. That information is then used for profiles in which they sell advertising to you. In other instances they buy third party data about you and add that to the profile. You aren't the client you're the product.

34

@33 The Old Soundman: Thank you very much for the clarification. I feel vulnerable with so much bombardment online these days.

35

Just say no to Facebook. Delete Facebook today.

36

This Just In:

"Google Fined $1.7 Billion by E.U. for Unfair Advertising Rules"

Perhaps we're more Powerful than we were "led" to believe.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/business/google-fine-european-union.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage


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