Facebook will emerge stronger from privacy scandal

N. Balakrishnan says the social media giant will survive our current angst about an invasion of privacy because people will baulk at paying for protection, and any regulation will in the end serve to entrench the incumbent

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Published: 5:27pm, 16 Apr 2018Updated: 7:09pm, 16 Apr 2018

What is happening now to Facebook is a metamorphosis, not extinction. Just as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg discarded his signature hoodie and put on a jacket and tie to testify at the US Congress, his company will also outgrow its adolescence to become an even more powerful, if more sedate, company in future.

Doomsayers predict that the supposed “invasion of privacy” that has upset users will spell its doom. But advertisers, the lifeblood of Facebook, don’t seem to have abandoned it yet. The chances are that Facebook will not only survive this crisis but emerge stronger, as did the earlier villain Microsoft, which was crucified a decade ago for its “monopoly” internet browser. At the time, Bill Gates, then the world’s richest man, was portrayed as evil incarnate.

The Microsoft co-founder has since reinvented himself as a compassionate philanthropist and his Windows operating system is everywhere. What happened to Microsoft will happen to Facebook, too.

Bill Gates plays an exhibition tennis match in San Jose, California, partnering Roger Federer, on March 5. A decade ago, when Microsoft was attacked for its monopolistic practices, Gates was portrayed as evil incarnate. Today, he is known more for his philanthropy. Photo: AP

I don’t say this because I think Facebook is innocent when it comes to invading our privacy, but because all the sanctimonious pundits who denounce Facebook will not be prepared to pay for “privacy”. The simple truth is that if Facebook were to provide the services it provides now, without “invading” people’s privacy, it would have to charge a lot. There won’t be many queuing up for that option.

There are, of course, other similar services that guarantee privacy – if you are willing to pay for them.