The World of Fifty (Interoperable) Facebooks

This essay envisions a “world of fifty facebooks,” where numerous companies would offer interoperable services, similar to the one currently provided by Facebook Inc. As is the case with telephones, where customers of AT&T can call and text those of T-Mobile or Verizon, users of A-Book should be able to find, communicate with and see the content of customers of B-Book, C-Book, etc. Facebook Inc. should be obliged by the law to allow potential competitors to become interoperable with its platform and to grant them access to its network. Today, Facebook Inc. uses its artificially created monopolistic position to impose excessive costs and unnecessary harms on consumers and on society.To offer a new theory of the “price” Facebook Inc. charges for its services, this essay goes beyond the conventional wisdom that users pay for access with their “personal data and attention.” Instead, it argues that Facebook Inc. imposes on its users: (i) cognitive harms (emotional manipulation, risk mental health problems); (ii) behavioral harms (unwanted purchases, wasted time, risk of addiction); and (iii) privacy/security harms (risk of having the sets of amassed personal data stolen by hackers). The company also freerides on users' creative content and labor. Each of these harms constitutes a higher “price” or lower quality than could be available in a competitive market. They stem from Facebook Inc.'s data-collection-heavy, targeted-advertising-driven business model. However, less harmful models are available. In addition to proposing a new theory of the “price” currently paid by the users of Facebook Inc., the essay outlines what the “world of fifty facebooks” would look like, explores why the benefits for consumers and society would increase in that world, and surveys the possible legal strategies – including regulation and antitrust enforcement – to make that world a reality