Facebook is running into some trouble over their handling of post settings for some anti-corporate leaning grassroots groups.
As the number of Facebook members signed up for the “Boycott Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics” page neared 78,000 in recent days, Facebook personnel locked down portions of the page — banning new discussion threads, preventing members from posting videos and standard Web links to other sites and barring the page’s administrator from sending updates to those who signed up for the boycott. (via Activists upset with Facebook – Josh Gerstein – POLITICO.com)
As Facebook has built up their network, they’ve become the defacto place for sharing information and informally organizing into groups of similar interests. I wonder, if the telephone company could get away with taking similar advantage of their network-effect-built userbase, and censored political speech. The answer, of course, is that they could not, due to the regulations governing the industry.
While actions like this bring critical folks like me ever closer to quitting Facebook, the thought of so many lost connections is what keeps us from doing it. It’s as though one must choose between their principals and their social network — and that’s a position I believe no one should be placed in.
As face-to-face meeting places have become privatized (think public square vs. malls and coffee shops), being able to connect freely online is becoming increasingly vital to social life. We shouldn’t let these spaces similarly fall into private hands, where we are subject to one entity’s terms of service.
This is why projects like Diaspora and StatusNet are so important.
I didn’t quit Facebook over this, but I did donate to the EFF. It was far, far overdue.
Edit: Here is a good post from Ars about a similar issue with ISP TOS agreements.