Stephen Colbert explains perfectly why everyone is dumping on Facebook now

Stephen Colbert savages Facebook
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

"Does anybody here use Facebook? Still?" Stephen Colbert asked on Tuesday's Late Show, noting that the world's biggest social network is in hot water over the unauthorized harvesting of the private information of 50 million American users by Cambridge Analytica, President Trump's campaign contractor — and also "the scientific name for John Oliver."

"Now, people are blaming Facebook for this because they handed over all your data willingly," Colbert said. "It's less like they're a bank that got robbed at gunpoint and more like a bank that just gave bank robbers your money because that's their business model — but now you can't quit the bank because your whole family is at the bank, and also the bank is where you get to see if your high school friends got fat." Now seems to be a good time for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to weigh in with some damage control, he added, but so far, crickets.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.