The AOL comparison seems appropriate and is not one I've heard before, good point.
I'd argue that this has even darker motivations than AOL ever did though. At least with AOL people had a choice. There were alternatives to living inside the walled garden.
This seems more like indentured servitude. I suspect strongly that the poorest people that Facebook is targeting here have no option as they can't afford any data charges at all, so will sign up because its this or nothing.
Many of these folks may never have even seen the internet. There's a very real chance that a lot of them will believe that the curated Facebook internet is the internet proper.
I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg considers himself to be a fair and reasonable gatekeeper so doesn't see this as a problem, but this is almost certainly going to be abused sooner or later (spoiler: sooner).
I think even if Mark Zuckerberg considers himself to be a fair and reasonable gatekeeper, there is still a problem, as explained by this note on cultural hegemony (https://civic.mit.edu/blog/natematias/net-neutrality-and-heg...). The marginalised will simply get even more marginalised.
The problem with gatekeeping is that nobody can be qualified or suitable to fulfill the role of gatekeeper. Focusing on arguments like cultural hegemony is a distraction that gives the impression if enough symptoms are covered-up that the root cause can persist.
Right, of course. My point was that even if there is someone who was perfectly qualified to be a gatekeeper, there are still other problems to consider.
I'd argue that this has even darker motivations than AOL ever did though. At least with AOL people had a choice. There were alternatives to living inside the walled garden.
This seems more like indentured servitude. I suspect strongly that the poorest people that Facebook is targeting here have no option as they can't afford any data charges at all, so will sign up because its this or nothing.
Many of these folks may never have even seen the internet. There's a very real chance that a lot of them will believe that the curated Facebook internet is the internet proper.
I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg considers himself to be a fair and reasonable gatekeeper so doesn't see this as a problem, but this is almost certainly going to be abused sooner or later (spoiler: sooner).