Facebook Had the Last Laugh but UK Lawmakers Are Determined to Wipe That Grin
Hellen Oti — February 26, 2019 — February 26, 2019
A new report from UK lawmakers dubs Facebook as “Digital Gangsters”
In December of 2018, much to the surprise of many, Facebook reported a whopping $ 16.91 billion in revenue and year-over-year growth of 30.4 percent. It appeared that Facebook did just fine, although they had been in the ringer for different privacy law issues and data breaches including Cambridge Analytica.
Yep, that happened! I bet you may have already forgotten.
While most Facebook users were outraged they didn’t pull from the platform. So, without fully understanding what, if any, had changed, Facebook continued to ring up their advertising cash register and ended up exceeding some analyst predictions.
Basically, Facebook won.
Here’s my question: could Facebook’s increase in revenue be a poster child for “all press is good press?” Who knows?
Facebook Dubbed a ‘Digital Gangster’
If Americans are willing to give Facebook a pass, UK lawmakers in a report published on Monday are refusing to do the same. CNN reports that “…According to the committee, the documents show that Facebook was ‘willing to override its users’ privacy settings in order to transfer data.” Arguably, the most egregious part of the account for me stems from allegations that Facebook was intentionally ‘starving’ data from certain app companies, causing them to go out of business. If this account is true, it would appear that Facebook is not creating an even playing field for app developers. Now, let’s that sink in for a second and think of what that could mean in terms of choices for users.
The Moral Dilemma
As a marketer, I understand that access to user demographics helps with providing better-targeted advertisements. Additionally, contextually relevant ads while providing better ROI and bottom-line results also create a better user experience. On the other hand, as a consumer, I expect companies to respect my wishes. If I set my privacy settings not to share my demographic data, then I expect the platform to respect those wishes. In the heat of the moment last year, companies like Commerzbank and Mozilla reportedly suspended their Facebook Ad campaigns as a precaution. Since pausing ads doesn’t mean a cancellation or leaving the platform, there is a likelihood that many of the brands that took a hardline stand eventually, ‘quietly unpaused’ their ads. And I don’t blame them, Facebook remains one of the leading Digital Advertising Channels.
In the end, there is no telling what the future holds for Facebook or how further data privacy issues could affect the platform. But for now, the newly appointed ‘digital gangsters’ and social media giant stands strong.
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