IS IT TIME TO BREAK UP BIG TECH?
Where were you during the big Internet Blackout of October 13 when Facebook and its owned properties Instagram and WhatsApp all went down for 9 hours during a technical snafu?
United Stated Representative Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez , a Democrat who represents the 14th District of New York went on her social media to highlight and question the anti-trust implications of one company controlling most of America’s social media.
The impact of Facebook’s control over so much of the Intenet is not limited to the US.
In a post-mortem analysis, New York Times reporters Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel summarized the inmensity of the lapse last week:
The “taking out a vital communications platform used by billions and showcasing just how dependent the world has become on a company that is under intense scrutiny.
Even so, the impact was far-reaching and severe. Facebook has built itself into a linchpin platform with messaging, livestreaming, virtual reality and many other digital services. In some countries, like Myanmar and India, Facebook is synonymous with the internet. More than 3.5 billion people around the world use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp to communicate with friends and family, distribute political messaging, and expand their businesses through advertising and outreach.
