This is me back in my college days. And this is my roommate, Mark. Together, we founded Facebook in 2004. Now, 15 years later, I think Facebook has grown too big and too powerful. Every week brings new headlines about privacy violations, election interference or mental health concerns. I haven’t been at the company in over a decade, but I feel a sense of responsibility to account for the damage done. Americans have the power to right the ship through government action. We need new regulations. It’s time to break up Facebook. The early days of Facebook tell a classic American story of innovation and entrepreneurship. From our college dorm room, we started a little social network for our friends that exploded in popularity and connected the world. Mark’s hustle in those early years made it possible for Facebook to dominate our rivals like Friendster, MySpace, Tumblr and many others. These competitors made us better. And then we beat them out. This is how it’s supposed to work in America. Hard work leads to economic success. You start a small business and compete on the merits to provide a better product. Today, nearly three billion people use Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and they’re all owned and controlled by the same company. Of every dollar spent buying ads on social media, $0.84 goes to Facebook. It’s now worth over half a trillion dollars. That’s roughly the size of the G.D.P. of the bottom 65 countries in the world — combined. It’s not just that Facebook is a really big social network. It’s everything. When a single company dominates any market, they become susceptible to abusing their power. Social networking is like most other American industries. There used to be plenty of healthy competition. But now many industries are controlled by just one or two companies. Companies often create an illusion of choice. You think there are hundreds of beer brands out there, but they’re all made by one or two companies. Why is this a problem? Well, when companies get too big, they get sloppy and careless, and that leads to things like poor privacy practices, enabling foreign actors to meddle in elections, the spread of violent rhetoric, fake news and the unbounded drive to capture more of our data and attention. I often hear people say, “I’m shutting down my Facebook account. Thank God for Instagram,” not realizing that Instagram is owned by Facebook. People are powerless in this situation because there’s nowhere else to go. Monopolies stifle innovation. Facebook snatches up competitors by buying them before they get too big. Or, by copying their innovations. Despite all the money and hype being poured into new startups, there hasn’t been a single major social media platform launched since 2011. The harm goes beyond he economy though, it goes to democracy itself. When companies become empires, people are stripped of power. Facebook’s employees write complex rules called algorithms that decide what you see in your News Feed. Facebook can decide what messages get delivered and which don’t. And what exactly makes for violent or inappropriate content. Even Mark himself has said that he and the Facebook team have too much power over speech. Facebook does have a board of directors. But Mark owns the majority of the shares. Unlike the leader of a democracy there are no checks and balances on Facebook. Mark has no boss, and he cannot be fired. Listen, it’d be great if Mark can fix this himself. But this, ironically, is a problem he cannot solve. We need the government to intervene with two steps. First, the Facebook empire needs to be broken up. America’s regulated corporate empires before, and we can do it again. This isn’t unprecedented and surprisingly, it often boosts the value of these companies in the long run. The Federal Trade Commission can force Facebook to unwind its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram. Then we’ll see real competition around social media and digital messaging. Breaking up Facebook isn’t a punishment for its economic success. It’s a way to guarantee that other new companies can compete. We also need a new government agency to protect Americans from the overreach of Facebook and other companies like it. Think about it. We don’t trust airlines or pharmaceutical companies to regulate themselves. We shouldn’t trust social media companies either. We need basic privacy protections and the ability for people to move their data around as they please. Right now Facebook makes free speech decisions on its own with little accountability. Instead, we need government to set guidelines, not Facebook employees in Menlo Park. I don’t think Mark’s a bad guy and I’ve made this decision to speak out because I feel a sense of responsibility for what Facebook has become. And to be honest, I’m angry that Mark’s obsession with growth led him to sacrifice security for clicks. I think we all want to live in a country where David can take on Goliath, where a kid with a smart idea in a dorm room can start a billion- dollar company. We’ve strayed from that ideal, and breaking up and regulating Facebook will help put us back on that path.<doc-sep>Mark Zuckerberg's former college roommate and co-founder of Facebook posted a fascinating proposal this week: break up the social network and watch the problems start to disappear. But would they? Take Instagram and WhatsApp away from Facebook, Inc. and say goodbye to Russian trolls, fake news, privacy invasions and an algorithm that shows what Facebook wants you to see? Much of the online chatter can be summed up in two words: nice dream. "It would not solve the problem," says Boston based blogger Josh Bernoff. "Breaking up Facebook would enable us to have 3 data abusers (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) instead of one, and I'm not sure why that’s better." The gist of Hughes' Op-Ed and subsequent media tour among many TV shows is that the government needs to take action on behalf of consumers, as it did with AT&T back in 1984. Running for president, candidate Elizabeth Warren agreed with Hughes, weighing in on the side of a breakup, and using the hashtag #BreakUpBigTech. Senator Warren (D-Mass. ), who wants to apply the hatchet to Facebook, Google and Amazon, says the big tech firms have "bulldozed competition, used our private info for profit, hurt small businesses and stifled innovation." Alex Kruglov, the founder of small online video gaming startup pop.in, is with Warren and Hughes. Taking away Instagram and WhatsApp would "create an environment of more competition," he says. Snapchat invented the idea of disappearing photos, and when Facebook embraced the idea and tried to buy the company, but was rebuffed, Facebook responded by copying the idea and using it on Instagram. The Instagram Story feature is now used by over 500 million people daily, while Snapchat has under 200 million active daily users. Kruglov says situations like this, with government monitoring, would open the playing field and make it fairer. What it wouldn't do is get rid of fake news, trolls and the like, but he believes government regulation that enabled competition would have a natural effect of diluting these voices. Just like with regulation of utilities and auto companies, regulation would shift the power from the social network back to users, says Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst with Kaleido Insights. He doesn't support the idea of a breakup, however, because that would just create consumer confusion, he says. We like connecting via Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, because it makes it easier to use the services, just like we like signing on to websites via Facebook connect. And if Facebook had that taken away, some other company, probably Google, would just swoop in and try to connect everyone via its system, he says. Readers, what do you think? Should Facebook be broken up? In other tech news this week: Google held it's big I/O conference for app developers this week, announcing new low-cost phones and a rebranding of Google Home products. Google looked to address consumer burnout over super-expensive smartphones with a new Pixel smartphone for $399. It's not waterproof and doesn't offer wireless charging, but then it doesn't cost $1,000 either. Our Ed Baig says the Pixel 3A phone is a better deal that the Pixel 3, which starts at $799. Google also lent some confusion to its Alexa rival, the Google Home line. Remember that Google Home Hub we loved when it was released last year? It's now called the Nest Home Hub because, well, Google owns Nest, which makes several home automation products, and wanted to beef up the Nest name. A larger edition, selling for $230, the Nest Home Hub Max, will be released in the summer. It will also feature a video camera that follows users around the home, similar to Facebook's Portal device. Bret Kinsella, who pens the Voicebot,.ai blog, says we could expect Google to change the name of the Google Home speakers to Nest Home later this year. Ride-hailing company Uber went public on Friday, but didn't have a great day, closinbg at $41.57, down from the opening price of $45 a share. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made a detailed pitch for flying astronauts to the moon by 2024. Blue Origin, the rocket venture from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will launch a manned mission to the moon, in just a few years. Only three nations have successfully landed on the moon: U.S., Russia and China. This week's Talking Tech podcasts: While we were away visiting Spain and Portugal, we had several talented folks filling in for us on Talking Tech, and some reruns as well. —Veteran analyst Tim Bajarin offered us a preview of Apple's upcoming WWDC developer conference. —Shannon Rae Green and Dusty Terrill, the duo that hosts USA TODAY's "I Tell My Husband The News," podcast, weighed in on schools banning Uber Eats. —From the vault: our #TalkingTech sitdown with singer Ariana Grande. —Melissa Kirsch from "The Upgrade by Lifehacker” podcast filled for us with thoughts on how to get off the grid. —From the vault: one of our all-time favorites, Talking Tech with comedian Lewis Black. That's a wrap for the Talking Tech newsletter. Please subscribe at http://technewsletter.usatoday.com, follow me (@jeffersongraham) on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and listen to the daily Talking Tech podcast wherever you listen to online audio.<doc-sep>This is how Facebook kills its competition Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers his speech during the VivaTech (Viva Technology) trade fair in Paris, on May 24, 2018. (Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images) What Trump supporters see on their Facebook feeds Chris, a Trump supporter, reacts to a fact check of a manipulated video shared by the Trump campaign. A Facebook employee walks by a sign displaying the "like" sign at Facebook's corporate headquarters campus in Menlo Park, California, on October 23, 2019. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) TOPSHOT - A demonstrator wearing a mask painted with the colours of the flag of East Turkestan and a hand bearing the colours of the Chinese flag attends a protest of supporters of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority and Turkish nationalists to denounce China's treatment of ethnic Uighur Muslims during a deadly riot in July 2009 in Urumqi, in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul, on July 5, 2018. - Nearly 200 people died during a series of violent riots that broke out on July 5, 2009 over several days in Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in northwestern China, between Uyghurs and Han people. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump works on his phone during a roundtable at the State Dining Room of the White House June 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump held a roundtable discussion with Governors and small business owners on the reopening of American's small business. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Facebook decision 'is wait and see,' says former public policy director Facebook Oversight Board: Indefinite suspension of Trump's account is 'not appropriate' Facebook co-founder: 'It's not a personal beef, but it is personal' (CNN Business) — Chris Hughes helped Mark Zuckerberg transform Facebook from a dorm-room project into a real business. Now, he’s calling for the company to be broken up. In a lengthy opinion piece published Thursday by the New York Times, Hughes says that Zuckerberg has “unchecked power” and influence “far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government.” It’s time, he writes, for regulators to break up Facebook (FB). “Mark is a good, kind person. But I’m angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks,” writes Hughes. “I’m disappointed in myself and the early Facebook team for not thinking more about how the News Feed algorithm could change our culture, influence elections and empower nationalist leaders,” he continues. “And I’m worried that Mark has surrounded himself with a team that reinforces his beliefs instead of challenging them.” Hughes is the latest in a series of prominent entrepreneurs and tech executives to call for stricter regulation of Facebook and other online platforms. They are speaking out as countries around the world rush to put better controls in place following a wave of scandals related to data privacy, election meddling and the spread of misinformation. Zuckerberg has signaled that he’s open to some regulation. In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post in March, the CEO tried to sketch out areas where he thought regulation should start. In Hughes view, Facebook’s calls for regulation are a way to head off a potential antitrust case. Hughes, who has not worked at Facebook in over a decade, argues that Zuckerberg’s competitive drive and quest for domination has led the company to control an estimated 80% of the world’s social network revenue. The entrepreneur says that Facebook is now a “powerful monopoly” that should be forced to reverse its acquisitions of Instagram and Whatsapp. Hughes also says the US government should create a new agency to regulate tech companies. “[Zuckerberg] has created a leviathan that crowds out entrepreneurship and restricts consumer choice. It’s on our government to ensure that we never lose the magic of the invisible hand,” Hughes writes. Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and communications, said in a statement that accountability “can only be achieved through the painstaking introduction of new rules for the internet.” “Facebook accepts that with success comes accountability,” he said. “But you don’t enforce accountability by calling for the breakup of a successful American company.”<doc-sep>
In an op-ed written in The New York Times, one of Facebook’s co-founders has called for the social network to be broken up. Chris Hughes, who helped Mark Zuckerberg launch Facebook from his Harvard dorm 15 years ago, says that the Federal Trade Commission should reverse Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram in order to create more competition in the social media and messaging markets. Hughes makes the economic argument that Facebook has become a monopoly and that this has limited competition and held back innovation. It’s impossible for users to switch to an alternative social network because no serious competitors exist. Hughes says that no new social networks have been launched since 2011 and that 84 percent of spending on social media ads goes directly to Facebook. He cites the FTC’s breakup of AT&T in the 1980s as well as Whole Foods’ sale of Wild Oats in 2009 as a precedent for how this breakup could happen. The problem with Facebook goes beyond economics however, Hughes argues. The News Feed’s algorithms dictate the content that millions of people see every day, its content rules define what counts as hate speech, and there’s no democratic oversight of its processes. Zuckerberg’s ownership of the majority of Facebook’s shares means that there’s no internal check on his power, and there’s no government agency dedicated to overseeing a company like Facebook. “Mark’s influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government. He controls three core communications platforms — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — that billions of people use every day,” writes Hughes. “Mark alone can decide how to configure Facebook’s algorithms to determine what people see in their News Feeds, what privacy settings they can use and even which messages get delivered. He sets the rules for how to distinguish violent and incendiary speech from the merely offensive, and he can choose to shut down a competitor by acquiring, blocking or copying it.” “Mark is a good, kind person,” Hughes says, “but I’m angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks.” Along with breaking up the company, the Facebook co-founder calls for the US to set up a government agency that’s dedicated to regulating tech companies like Facebook. Hughes says the agency should be tasked with protecting people’s privacy, and it should lay down guidelines for how Facebook is allowed to operate, similar to the regulations the EU put in place last year with GDPR. With his op-ed, which is worth reading in its entirety, Hughes joins a growing number of lawmakers who are calling for the breakup of Facebook. Notably, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has said that she will break up the likes of Facebook if she’s elected president in 2020. Others, including Zuckerberg himself, have called for increased regulation of the big tech firms.