Facebook Must Break -- Privacy Groups Knock FTC's Door

After almost 18 years of Facebook’s existence, a number of groups focused on privacy and anti-monopoly are working hard to bring big changes to the company as an attempt to reduce the “scary amount of power” Facebook and Zuckerberg have.

By sending a petition to the US Federal Trade Commission, the groups want to virtually reverse most of what Mark Zuckerberg has done to build the Facebook empire. That includes buying up or “bankrupting potential competitors.” Also, “unilaterally” deciding the news that’s served to billions of people across the globe, according to the ‘Freedom from Facebook‘ campaign website.

The groups want that FTC should force the social networking giant to split into four separate entities including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. There should be a fair amount of competition and interoperability with other social networks. Also, Facebook should impose strong privacy rules that empower and protect users.

As a part of the campaign, ads will run on Zuckerberg-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as, on other networks. The ads will have messages like, “Facebook keeps violating your privacy. Break it up.”

Maybe the goals set forth by the groups are far-fetched, and it isn’t a thing that’s going to happen overnight. But in the meantime, you can check out their “how-to” guide meant to “reduce corporate and political surveillance on Facebook.”

One other side of the story, Facebook stresses that it’s not the only social network on the planet. It’s another thing that Mark Zuckerberg faced a scarcity of words when he was asked to name a Facebook competitor during the testimony. An average person uses “eight different apps to communicate and stay connected,” a Facebook spokesperson told Axios.

After the Cambridge Analytica scandal was all over the internet, the company started playing a defensive stroke by making subtle changes in its policies and bringing new features.

All of this has come after a myriad of bad news that made Facebook more infamous than ever. People are not taking a second in blaming them for wrong things. But why only Facebook? Because, practically, it’s the only social network that exists. Unless you start considering Google Plus. Twitter is a different world.

Talking about the harsh reality, people can’t live without Facebook. Even the groups know that. So, the best solution is to make the situation somewhat favorable.

If you want, you can sign the petition on Freedom from Facebook’s website.