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by Calamity 1962 days ago
Agree on the first part, but the second part doesn't seem as though it would practically work. Subreddits are the closest approximation and they still fall under a monolithic umbrella (and struggle to cope). Also, in terms of balance of power, breaking up all the different communities into separate smaller units gives too much power to the government IMO. It's essentially the ideal situation for a government who would like to pressure anyu one smaller community. Much harder to shush/gag/silence/stealth takedown a Facebook or a Reddit than it is a small entity. Divide & Conquer.

Facebook is definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place here though. This is why I think Mark Zuckerberg is actually being authentic when he says that "Facebook needs more regulation". He's already seen this problem and knows that having that subjective burden offloaded onto the government is the only true solution, i.e. "just tell me what the rules are and I shall play by them". Conveniently, these additional rules would also make it much harder for a new entrant to come unseat Facebook. So more regulation from the government is, in reality, win-win for Facebook.