Because It’s the business plan behind Facebook, Google and virtually everything in the Valley.

This week Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat down (on a booster seat) in front of a group of old, out of touch members of our nation’s government. We were promised a “grilling” and instead we got softballs thrown over the plate that the ‘Zuck’ answered with ease. Wall Street and investors loved it, Zuckerberg made 2 billion dollars without lifting a finger. All fear of the government trying to regulate Facebook has gone out the window because they don’t even understand what it is.  After a huge breach of trust, many thought maybe the government would hold a big business responsible. In the end, they couldn’t follow through.  Someone who lies to users for years shouldn’t get away with it, but that’s exactly what happened… for a couple of reasons.

20th Century Leaders Can’t Govern in the 21st Century

In the past Congress has always been very hesitant to regulate large corporations and the argument can be made that they’ve never had to. Digital fortune 500 companies have unlimited power in today’s world. Never before has a business so large had an effect on our day to day lives. It’s time for the government to step in on things like Facebook but the group of current lawmakers is hesitant to do so because they’ve never seen something like this. Fresh blood in Washington is exactly what we need for the government to take an appropriate roll in limiting the seemingly unlimited power of huge tech businesses.

Mark Zuckerberg Can’t Stop Selling Data Because That’s How Social Media Works

Social media makes its money through advertising, it has from the beginning. Apparently, this is something that Senator Orrin Hatch was never briefed on. Skip to about 30 seconds for a quick laugh that’s actually rather alarming.

Social media works because advertisement firms are able to gather real applicable data that they can use to advertise to groups more likely to purchase their product. Facebook runs ads, Google is virtually just an ad company. To imagine a world where user data is for the user only is to imagine a world before the internet.

What Mark Zuckerberg did by lying to users was immoral and wrong. We all wanted to see Facebook’s CEO grilled and held responsible for his actions, but the fact of the matter is that these hearings didn’t solve a thing. Because they were doomed from the start.