Have you ever compromised freedoms in the name of business? Ever compromise principals in the name of business? I ask because even in the computer repair business, that can be a dilemma. But Facebook faces that dilemma today. Facebook caters to China…no matter what.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants China. He wants it bad. As a result, he visits China frequently. He has a great relationship with Chinese President Xi Jingping. Also, he’s cool with Chinese tech leaders. He’s even learning Mandarin Chinese. But these aren’t compromises. Here is compromise: they’re building software to block certain info from reaching Facebook pages. This is from anonymous Facebook employees. This software prevents certain content from going on Facebook feeds. Consequently, this breeds censorship. Let me be clear. Facebook itself isn’t blocking content in China. But they’re enabling it, assuming this becomes reality.
In addition, this comes from a company whose motto is, “To make the world open and connected”. But look at China’s relationship with social media. For years, China clashed with Google and Twitter over censorship. They forced LinkedIn to cave into their censorship demands. Furthermore, they made Uber pay extra just to serve in China. And they still censored Uber. Under Xi Jingping, online censorship tightened.
I can’t blame Zuckerberg for catering to China. Look at their power. Also, look at their potential. China has 1.4 billion people, and growing. Also, how many of these people have online access? Let me answer that: lots. Let’s say Facebook gets 20% of that pie. That equals 280 million people. That’s alone is 90% the entire US population. So from a business move, I understand it. But as a human being and freedom advocate, I don’t like it. I can’t condone any software that supports censorship. And why? Because Chinese President XI Jingping doesn’t like it? Don’t let one man, or a group of men, have this much power. If I were the Facebook CEO, I’d live up to my motto, no matter what. But I’m not the the Facebook CEO. If you were the Facebook CEO, what would you do?