FTC Must Force Facebook Data Portability to Create Real Competition
True market competition relies on a consumer's ability to easily leave a bad service for a better one. The author argues that the FTC should force Facebook to offer interoperable friend list exports, creating a viable escape route for users.
Consumer choice naturally forces corporations to treat people fairly, as the ability to switch to a competitor creates a powerful incentive for good behavior. Without viable alternatives, government regulations merely trap users with a problematic company wearing a fresh coat of lipstick. Facebook currently gets away with privacy abuses because users lack a simple way to migrate to another western, general-purpose social network with similar scale.
The FTC considers several penalties for Facebook, ranging from multi-billion dollar fines and personal executive liability to breaking up the company entirely. However, the most effective solution is for the government to mandate true interoperable data portability for the social graph. By forcing Facebook to let users export their friend lists to competing platforms in a privacy-safe manner, the FTC paves an escape route for frustrated users.
This requirement allows people to leave Facebook without losing touch with their friends, instantly making alternative social networks viable options. The looming threat of mass user defection creates a much stronger incentive for Facebook to protect user privacy and society than any fine. While breaking up the company remains a tantalizing punishment, enabling genuine competition through data portability addresses the root cause of the platform's unchecked power.