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Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by anoncake on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @01:07PM (#19972105)
> Or you could use another method of communication.

No. If you cannot use another method of communication you cannot use another method of communication. Even if you dislike the obvious consequences: Facebook, like all other monopolies, cannot remain private property, much less unregulated.

Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by root_axis on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @01:16PM (#19972202)
Facebook does not have a monopoly on communication though... like not even close. If there is any such monopoly (I don't think there is) it'd fall at the foot of the telcos or ISPs
Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by anoncake on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @01:38PM (#19972512)
Facebook does not have a monopoly on communications just as Standard Oil did not have a monopoly on fuel -- you could always choose coal or wood instead. Communications is not just one monolithic market in which everything is substitutable for everything.
Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by root_axis on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @02:34PM (#19973291)
Another poor analogy. The differences between oil, coal and wood are the results of differences in their chemical structures which have immense implications regarding their individual utility. By comparison, Facebook is not producing "oil" while others are producing "wood", the communication offerings are practically identical in terms of functionality and utility (send text and images to other people), the only meaningful differences are a function of the individual not the company. If everyone I know uses Discord to communicate then Facebook is as good as "wood" to Discord's "oil".
Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by anoncake on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @03:06PM (#19973677)
> the communication offerings are practically identical in terms of functionality and utility (send text and images to other people)

To different groups of people. That makes them less substitutable than wood and oil. It's possible to create oil from wood, it's possible to build a car that runs on wood, you cannot substitute on human for another.

> If everyone I know uses Discord to communicate then Facebook is as good as "wood" to Discord's "oil".

That applies to essentially no one. And if you mean that everyone you know is on Discord but not on Facebook: That's an argument for regulating Discord, not against regulating Facebook.

Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by root_axis on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @07:29PM (#19976197)
> That applies to essentially no one.

So does the scenario where the only viable way to communicate is to use Facebook. Send an e-mail or make a phone call. Facebook is a trivial and unimportant distraction at best and is not the primary form of communication for the vast majority of people.

Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by bryan_w on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @02:49PM (#19973476)
Also we've seen time and again big players being dominated by newcomers in the online communication space. There's no Myspace, or AOL, or Yahoo anymore and those companies would have be thought of as monopolies in their day.
Re:Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake n... by anoncake on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @06:33PM (#19975813)
And they were. Today they aren't. What's your point?