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DON’T BREAK UP FACEBOOK—TREAT IT LIKE A UTILITY
by Dipayan Ghosh
Recently Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes joined a chorus of voices (including presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren, Texas senator Ted Cruz, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich) arguing that regulatory agencies should apply antitrust authority to or even “break up” the digital giant.1 Hughes positioned the move as a necessity to subvert the more insidious effects we have seen arise from Facebook and similar platforms, such as the spread of disinformation and hate speech. His argument drew a great deal of popular support from the broad public as well as sharp criticism from the competition policy establishment. The company itself also pushed back, with newly minted ...
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