Mark Zuckerberg just released a predictably misleading defense of Facebook's data practices
Mark Zuckerberg really wants the world to know that Facebook doesn't "sell people's data," and he'll take any opportunity he can to prove it.
Experts would point out that the social network sells advertising spots tailored to users' interests, which it learns via their data. And they'd say Cambridge Analytica sure got a lot of information from Facebook, perhaps for a fee.
But "selling people’s information to advertisers would be counter to our business interests," Zuckerberg claimed Friday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he says provides "the facts about Facebook." The op-ed is an apparently clarification of Facebook's mission as it turns 15 years old next month.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Zuckerberg starts his op-ed by describing Facebook in his usually positive way, calling it "a service people could use to connect and learn about each other." But since the company's founding, advertisers have started to learn things about people, too. Facebook collects data "based on what pages people like" and "what they click on" and filters those people into categories, and then "charge[s] advertisers to show ads to that category," Zuckerberg explains. That advertising revenue lets Facebook remain free for users.
So, like Zuckerberg has repeatedly claimed and said again Friday, advertisers don't pay Facebook and directly get a data dump. But charging advertisers for data-driven ad spots, yet claiming it's not selling data, is "like a bar's giving away a free martini with every $12 bag of peanuts and then claiming that it's not selling drinks," Stanford University professor Michal Kosinski explained in a New York Times op-ed in December. And that's only touching on the policies, reports, and scandals Facebook has openly discussed.
Read the op-ed at The Wall Street Journal.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Marjorie Taylor Greene fails in bid to oust Johnson
Speed Read The House swiftly killed Greene's effort
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Kim Kardashian's Met Gala corset: designed for drama but a step too far?
In The Spotlight Reality TV star shocks with 'impossibly tiny waist' at this year's fashion event, echoing controversies from previous outfits
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Buddha of Suburbia: an 'orgiastic odyssey'
The Week Recommends Emma Rice brings Hanif Kureishi's 1990 novel to the stage
By The Week UK Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published