Facebook News - Should Facebook Be Declared A Public Utility?
Here's some Facebook News - I was recently put in Facebook jail for 3 days for posting a meme deemed to be in violation of their Community Standards. During that time I cannot post to my timeline or any of my pages, I can’t even like other people’s posts.
You think with all the Facebook data breaches that the senate and congress would take a harder look at FCC regulations and think about regulating Facebook.
I can’t message anyone nor can I respond to messages. Not being able to message could have dangerous implications. I’ve never seen this kind of restriction before. Normally you just get your ability to post restricted, but to have your account suspended to the point you cannot message someone nor respond, is dangerous and could end up causing you or someone you know, physical harm.
What if you have to message someone to let them know you are alright, or what if if someone needs your help, but it looks like to the person needing help, you are ignoring them? What if your business page entails you needing to keep in constant contact with your customers?
That’s why I’m asking if Facebook should be declared a public utility. I think it should because for some, including myself, it has become a necessary part of commerce. As do many others, I depend on Facebook for my income and having my account suspended like this, seriously hampers one’s ability to do business.
Can you imagine the phone company, AT&T, Sprint or Verizon, restricting your ability to communicate because they heard you discussing a subject they considered verboten over their lines? How ridiculous would that be?
Millions would lose their livelihood overnight if Facebook were to go offline. Facebook is way more than just recipes, “look at me, I’m pregnant” pictures and silly games for many people. Millions run businesses on Facebook and their ability to make a living is dependent on them having access to that platform.
Yes, there are bad actors, terrorist recruiters and hackers that need to be dealt with, but as YouTube does with a majority of things that violate their community standards, they simply remove that video and that’s that. No suspension, no restrictions, no inability to post. With repeated violations they take further action, but a first time offense on Facebook can cost you 3 days or more of total inability to use the platform.
This is unacceptable. This needs to change. Facebook needs to be declared a public utility subject to FCC scrutiny just as any other communications platform is. Phone companies are still private entities, but they are subject to regulation and scrutiny because they are a vital link to the population and the communications network at large, not available in any other manner.
No one is restricted from using the cell phone infrastructure based on race, creed, color, sexual orientation or political affiliation and neither should anyone’s ability to access Facebook be based on those same criteria.
Mark Zuckerberg has brought this upon himself. Facebook is a public utility. It serves the public interest. Time to regulate it to provide fair access for all.