Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Hokusai 2144 days ago
> Suppose Margrethe Vestager called and said TikTok, you are banned unless you let a "very european" company

Wouldn't do this make sense for Facebook? I would like to see a European company owning the European side of Facebook.

I really like Silicon Valley and their initiative, but again and again American companies have shown that they cannot be trusted with European data (maybe USA data either, but that is an internal matter of the USA).

Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are the new public squares for social discussion. Even more now that many people works from home.

I can understand USA decision on this matter (not the way as it has been imposed in a short time-line and without much feedback). And I can see that Europe not acting in the same way damages European citizens capability to regulate their own public spaces.

I also see anti-globalization as a risk for many other types of products and services. A healthy global market has provided growth and stability.

Meanwhile digital social networks have been a source of radicalization and manipulation of citizens from all around the world.

A different approach is needed to product shoes or phones that to provide citizens with public spaces.

2 comments

I really like Silicon Valley and their initiative, but again and again American companies have shown that they cannot be trusted with European data

Source?

Btw HSBC [1], Unilever [2] and many other European companies have had customer data breaches. I’m sure there would be even more but Europe has almost no top internet consumer companies

So I don’t have a lot of trust in European companies to safeguard customer data, curious to hear why you do.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2018/11/06/hsbc-ban...

https://www.verdict.co.uk/fresh-film-data-breach-dove/

>>American companies have shown that they cannot be trusted with European data. Source?

Room 641A? NSLs? Lotus Notes? The RSA fiasco? The EU report on Project ECHELON? The PSP? CNN? PBS Frontline? Edward Snowden? ... all the security news for the last few decades.

I might not agree with the idea that US companies are totally untrustworthy, but I would never suggest that idea is unfounded.

> Source?

The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Invalidated: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-eu-u-s-privacy-shield-...

On paper and for regulatory/tax purposes, a European company does own the European side of Facebook - Facebook Ireland Ltd.