Ocasio-Cortez says democracy may have a ‘Facebook problem’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday suggested that society has a “Facebook problem” after the company briefly removed ads from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) presidential campaign calling for a breakup of massive tech giants. 

“Just because a monopoly business happens to be online, that doesn’t mean it’s good,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet. “Facebook may have its own problems, but it’s increasingly starting to look like our society (namely, our democracy) has a Facebook problem.”

Just because a monopoly business happens to be online, that doesn’t mean it’s good.

Facebook may have its own problems, but it’s increasingly starting to look like our society (namely, our democracy) has a Facebook problem. https://t.co/AjWeAf2BY3

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 11, 2019

Politico first reported on Monday that Facebook had removed a trio of ads from Warren’s campaign that called for breaking up companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon.

{mosads}The social media platform took the step just days after Warren announced a proposal that called for the dissolution of Silicon Valley’s largest companies because they had acquired “too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy.”

“We need to stop this generation of big tech companies from throwing around their political power to shape the rules in their favor and throwing around their economic power to snuff out or buy up every potential competitor,” she said in the proposal.

Facebook said in a statement to The Hill that the ads had been removed “because they violated our policies against use of our corporate logo.” The company said Monday night that it was restoring the ads “in the interest of allowing robust debate.”

Andy Stone, a spokesman for Facebook, noted that several other ads related to Warren’s campaign of breaking up tech conglomerates were unaffected. 

“Curious why I think FB has too much power? Let’s start with their ability to shut down a debate over whether FB has too much power,” Warren said in a tweet Monday night. 

“Thanks for restoring my posts. But I want a social media marketplace that isn’t dominated by a single censor.” 

Curious why I think FB has too much power? Let’s start with their ability to shut down a debate over whether FB has too much power. Thanks for restoring my posts. But I want a social media marketplace that isn’t dominated by a single censor. #BreakUpBigTech https://t.co/UPS6dozOxn

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 11, 2019