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Comment by hexo | Hacker News Reader

No, at the end of the day, they are SO BIG that they are more like a public place/space, where you cannot really dictate your own rules, even as a owner of such place (for example restaurants is some countries. cell phone network operators.). FB should really cut the bullshit.

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> they are SO BIG that they are more like a public place/space, where you cannot really dictate your own rules

The Canadian government disagrees. They think Facebook stands to have significant financial gain for the privilege of their users sharing Canadian news sites, to the point where Facebook has to pay a fee for that privilege.

You can't simultaneously say "Facebook is a public place, people should be allowed to post whatever they want" and also "Facebook should have to pay a fee if they want their users to be able to post whatever they want."

I don't see the quandary. FB has managed to make themselves a defacto public space, they should not however be allowed to extort that position.

And yet the government extorts all similar public spaces

There's a bizarre trend I have seen in the past decades where "The Government" is being portrayed as the enemy — not as the construct we have created to represent the wishes and needs of the people and society. Corporations are portrayed as our saviors at best — or at worst, excused for doing whatever they need to to make their shareholders a return on their investments.

"not as the construct we have created to represent the wishes and needs of the people and society."

Does the government actually do that?

It should. And we should fix that.

I am sure that corporations are not much interested in serving the public good however.

In this case I hate to have to agree with Meta. The Canadian government created the problem with its flawed policies designed to prop up a dying business model.

Is it "dying business model" or the public good that the Canadian government are responding to?

Seems like the loss of local news has become more like a dying societal model.

You’re squarely on the side of protectionist government funded media here like the CBC, not local news

I'm on the side of journalism in general. Local journalism is my most favored, national my second. Both though are more important to me than an ad-selling corporation.

I know "protectionist" is a word that is supposed to have negative connotations. Maybe though I missed how the government is acting against the interests of the Canadian people.

If they are a public space, why are the government charging them for what the public do in that space?

I don't disagree with you, they aren't 'just' a private company. But through that optic the CA govts policy makes even less sense.

>>> If they are a public space, why are the government charging them for what the public do in that space?

I dunno, I was just stating the obvious, because someone had to do it. All sides should cut the crap and abuse (FB, Canada, news publishers).

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