The most pertinent interviews and reporting on the world's most powerful social network.

Insights: Facebook

 LISA MARIE SEGARRA: Today, we are talking about Facebook's newly relaunched portal product and whether they should be getting into hardware at all. Robert, is there a market for this? ROBERT HACKETT: So I mean, Facebook is going to fight an uphill battle here because they've got lots of privacy issues and stuff like that. But the smart display category of devices, there's no clear winner there yet. We've seen the smart speakers, there are companies-- Amazon, Google-- they have smart speakers that a lot of people own. But smart displays, no tech company has owned that category yet. So Facebook actually does have an opportunity here. It's a bit of a green field that they can get in and move. LISA MARIE SEGARRA: The thing is that there's not a clear winner, but there are products out there already which suggest that there just isn't a market for it. You have the Echo Show from Amazon, you have the Google Home Hub, and the fact that people aren't buying it kind of proves people don't want it. So why should Facebook come in all of a sudden with no hardware experience and suddenly be able to take-over? ROBERT HACKETT: Well, look, Facebook actually has some advantages over some those other products that you mentioned, like Amazon's Echo Show. Amazon, what do they have? They're going to try and make you buy stuff from Amazon or watch Amazon Prime TV shows and things like that. Facebook, they know your social graph and it's where a lot of people converse, have conversations, and by knowing that, that actually gives them an advantage. There's actually a utility there. LISA MARIE SEGARRA: I kind of don't see that as an advantage. Honestly, the fact that Facebook knows so much about me makes me not want their product in my home at all. I mean, the last thing we need is a company that's already gotten in trouble for data collection to be in our home with a screen and a microphone, honestly. ROBERT HACKETT: I agree. Personally, this is not a device for me but there are demographics I see that could potentially like this. Elderly populations who might not know how to use a phone and Facetime people at the drop of a hat. They had a dedicated device and all of a sudden, hey, I'm talking to grandma. That's not so bad. LISA MARIE SEGARRA: I mean, that sounds good in theory, but if they're having trouble with phones, I don't know if that's exactly the demographic to now pick up a whole new product. I mean, maybe a couple people, well, I don't want to generalize. But it's not enough to really make this a big seller, truthfully. 

Insights: Is There a Market for Facebook’s Portal?

Uncategorized

Is There a Market for Facebook’s Portal?

Or should it stick to what it does best? (March 2019)

today we're talking about Facebook's newly relaunched portal product and whether they should be getting into hardware. All Robert, is there a market for this? So I mean, Facebook is gonna fight an uphill battle here here because they've got lots of privacy issues and stuff like that. But the smart display category of devices you know, there's no clear winner there yet. We've seen the smart speakers. There are companies, you know, Amazon, Google. They have smart speakers, a lot of people own but smart displays. No tech company has owned that category yet, so Facebook actually does have an opportunity here. It's a bit of a green field. They can get in on move the thing is there not a clear winner. But there are products out there already, which the justice is in the market for it. You have the echo show from Amazon. You have the Google home hub and the fact that people aren't buying it kind of proof people don't want it. So why should Facebook come in all of a sudden with no hardware experience and suddenly be ableto, you know, take over, We'll look. Facebook actually has some advantages over some of the other products that you mentioned like Amazon's Echo show. You know, Amazon, what do they have? They're gonna try and make you buy stuff from Amazon or watch Amazon prime TV shows and things like that. Facebook. They know your social graph, and it's where a lot of people converse have conversations on by knowing that that actually gives them an advantage. You know that there's actually a utility there. I kind of don't see that as an advantage. Honestly, the fact meant Facebook knows so much about me. Makes me not want their product in my home at all. I mean, the last thing we need is a company that's already gotten in trouble for data collection to be in her home with a screen and a microphone. Honestly, you know, I agree. Personally, this is not a device for me, But there are demographics. I see that could potentially like this, you know, elderly populations who might not know howto like use a phone and facetime people at the drop of a hat. They had a dedicated device, and all of a sudden, hey, I'm talking to grandma. That's not so bad. I mean, that sounds good. in theory. But if they're having trouble with stones, I don't know if that's exactly the demographic to now pick up a whole new product. I mean, maybe a couple people will. I don't want to generalize, but it's not enough to really make a big seller.

Insights: Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Make Facebook More Private and Secure

Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Make Facebook More Secure

He laid out his plans in a blog post. (March 2019)

way need to take a more proactive role in a broader view of our responsibility, not enough to just build, too. We need to make sure that they're used for good.

 MARK ZUCKERBERG: Hey, everyone. Welcome to F8. Today, we're going to talk about building a privacy-focused social platform. This is the next chapter for our services. Now look, I get that a lot of people aren't sure that we're serious about this. I know that we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly. But I'm committed to doing this well and to starting a new chapter for our products. And it's going to take time. I'm sure we're going to keep on unearthing old issues for a while, so it may feel like we're not making progress at first. But I think that we've shown time and again as a company that we can do what it takes to evolve and build the products that people want, including recently, with stories and private messaging. And we plan to do this in the way that we've developed Whatsapp. Or it start with the most important and private used case-- messaging. Make it as secure as possible with end-to-end encryption and then build more ways for all of us to interact privately on top of that. We believe that for the future, people want a privacy-focused social platform. And I believe that if we build out a fully-encrypted, interoperable service with all of the ways that people can interact privately, then that's going to be an important contribution to the world. 

Insights: Mark Zuckerberg Discusses the Future of Privacy on Facebook

He spoke at the company’s F8 conference.

Mark Zuckerberg Discusses the Future of Privacy on Facebook

He spoke at the company’s F8 conference. (July 2019)

welcome O f A. Today we're going to talk about building a privacy focused social platform. This is the next chapter for our service is No. Look, I get that. A lot of people aren't sure that we're serious about it. I know that we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now that put it lightly. But I'm committed to doing this well and starting a new chapter for our products. And it's gonna take time. I'm sure we're gonna keep on unearthing old issues for a while. So may feel like we're not making progress at first. But I think that we have shown time and again is the company that we could do what it takes to evolve and build the products that people want, including recently with stories and private messages. And we plan to do this in the way that we've developed. What's that? Start with the most important and private Eustace messaging, make it as secure as possible with intend encryption and then build more ways for all of us to interact privately. On top of that, we believe that for the future, people want a privacy focused social platform, and I believe, but if we build out a fully encrypted, interoperable service with all of the ways that people on interact privately and that's gonna be an important contribution to the world.

 JEROME POWELL: We did actually have a meeting with representatives of Facebook a couple of months before the announcement. We do support responsible innovation in the financial services industry as long as the associated risks are appropriately identified and managed. And as we'll discuss, while the project's sponsors hold out the possibility of public benefits including improved financial access for consumers, Libra raises many serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection, and financial stability. These are concerns that should be thoroughly and publicly addressed before proceeding. And that's why at the Fed, we've set up a working group to focus on this set of issues. We are coordinating with our colleagues in the government in the United States, the regulatory agencies and treasury, we're coordinating with central banks and governments around the world to look into this. The process of addressing these concerns, we think, it should be a patient and careful one and not a sprint to implementation. 

Insights: The Fed Has Concerns About Facebook’s Libra

The Fed Has Concerns About Facebook’s Libra

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell explains why. (July 2019)

We did actually have a meeting with representatives of Ah, Facebook a couple of months before the announcement. We do support responsible innovation in the financial services industry as long as the associated risks are appropriately identified and managed. And as we'll discuss while the project's sponsors hold out the possibility of public benefits, including improved financial access for consumers, Lieber raises many serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability. These are concerned that should be thoroughly and publicly addressed. We're proceeding and that's why at the Fed we've set up a working group to focus on this set of issues. We're coordinating with our colleagues in the government in the United States, the regulatory agencies and treasury. We're coordinating with central banks and governments around the world to look into this process of addressing these concerns we think should be a patient and careful one and not a sprint to implementation

Insights: EU Can Force Facebook to Pull Posts With Hate Speech

Anywhere in the world, not just in the EU.

EU Can Force Facebook to Pull Posts With Hate Speech

Anywhere in the world, not just in the EU. (September 2019)

 REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: Why Switzerland for Libra? Why not the United States? MARK ZUCKERBERG: So the Libra Association is an independent association. We're trying to set up a global payments system. Switzerland is where a lot of the international organizations are. It also-- REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: They have greater regulatory certainty in Switzerland than in here in the United States for this type of technology? MARK ZUCKERBERG: I think Switzerland has certainly been forward-leaning on wanting to work through systems like this. But I don't want this to come across as if-- REP. PATRICK MCHENRY: And the United States is not? MARK ZUCKERBERG: Well, congressman, one of the things I just want to be clear on is that the Independent Libra Association is-- its independent. We're a part of it. We help stand it up. We don't control it. But I just want to make sure it's 100% clear to everyone today that my commitment running Facebook is that we're not going to launch anything that is a product or a part of this until we have full support from US regulators. REP. CAROLYN MALONEY: So which US regulators are you talking about? There are actually many financial regulators, such as the Fed, the FDIC, the OCC, the SEC, the CFTC, the CFPV Vinson, FHFA, and many, many more. And to be clear, Libra would affect all of those regulators. MARK ZUCKERBERG: My understanding is probably all of them for different things. Different of these regulators focus on different areas, whether it's financial stability or fighting crimes and fraud and terrorism. Different areas of the work need to get done and are overseen by different regulators. I think the processes with each of them might be a little bit different, but we're committed to getting all of the appropriate US approvals before launching the Libra payments system in any country in the world, even where those approvals might not be strictly required. REP. BILL HUIZINGA: You said that you won't launch without US regulator approval. What happens if the association decides to launch despite that? MARK ZUCKERBERG: Congressman, then I believe we would be forced to leave the association. I would hope that with our-- that the association will weigh our recommendation and what we say publicly that we think should happen. But if at the end of the day, we don't receive the clearances that we feel like we need to move forward and the association chooses to move forward without us, then we won't be in a position where we will not be a part of the association. 

Insights: Facebook's Libra Won’t Launch Until U.S. Regulators Sign Off

Facebook's Libra Won’t Launch Until U.S. Regulators Sign Off

He testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee. (October 2019)

Why Switzerland for Libra? Why not the United States? So the leaper association is an independent association. We were trying to set up a global payment system. Switzerland is where a lot of the international organizations are. It also a raider regulatory certainty in Switzerland and here in the United States for this type of technology. Um, I think Switzerland has certainly been forward leaning on wanting to work through systems like this. But But I don't want this Thio come across as if in the United States is not. Well, Congressman, One of the things I just want to be clear on is that the independently birth association is its independent were a part of it. We help stand it up, we don't control it. But I I just wanna make sure it's 100% cleared everyone today that my commitment running Facebook that we're not gonna launch anything that is a product or a part of this until we have full support from us regulators. So which U S regulators are you talking about? There are actually many financial regulators off, such as they said the FBI. See the O. C c, the S E C Z z f T c, the c F B since in FAA, FAA and many, many more and to be clear liberal would affect all of those regulators. My understanding is is probably all of them for different things. Different of these regulators focus on different areas, whether it's financial stability or fighting crimes and fraud and terrorism. Different different areas of the work need to need to get done and are overseen by different regulators. I think the process is with each of them might be a little bit different, but we're committed to getting all of the appropriate US approvals before launching the labor payment system in any country in the world, even where those approvals might not be strictly required. You said that you won't launch without US regulator approval. What happens if the association decides to launch? Despite that congressman, then I believe we would be forced to leave the association. I would hope that with our the association will weigh our recommendation and what we say publicly that we think should happen. But it's at the end of the day. We don't receive the clearances that we feel like we need to move forward and the association chooses to move forward without us. Uh, then then we will be in a position where we will not be a part of the association.

 LISA MARIE SEGARRA: Welcome to Fortune Tech Debate where we discuss the issues of the day in two minutes. Today, we're talking about Facebook and what it will take to make them take user data seriously. So the FTC recently came to a settlement with Facebook for $5 billion-- sounds like a lot, and it is a lot of money-- but for Facebook, it ended up being more of a slap on the wrist. What's it going to take for them to take this issue seriously finally? DAVID Z. MORRIS: Yeah, they got a $5 billion fine and their stock went up. There was sort of universal dismissal that this is not a real enforcement action. And the FTC chief said, we need better rules. We're just an enforcement body, we can't make the rules. So it comes back to we need legislation and regulation that provides specific guidelines for Facebook and other data handlers to know what they're supposed to do. I don't think that's the thing that's missing from Facebook, but anyway, that's what is going to fix this. LISA MARIE SEGARRA: I agree with you in theory, regulation sounds great-- something that will really hold them accountable. But as we saw in their hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, they really don't know what they're talking about. They just had no concept to not just have Facebook work, but Twitter, just social media and the internet in general. I don't really have faith that Congress will be able to put laws on the books that are more than symbolic and actually make a meaningful difference. DAVID Z. MORRIS: Well, symbolic would be a start. But I will say, I think that they've-- I hope that they've come some distance since the infamous whistle ads senator hearing. But second, there's a lot of bipartisan shared skepticism of Facebook. And I think that Democrats and Republicans, for different reasons, they don't trust the company and they think they sort of see the systemic problem. So I have some faith that there could be some healing-- or maybe Facebook is what we need to bridge the partisan divide in this country, is our shared skepticism. LISA MARIE SEGARRA: I have more faith that Facebook will start to care when it affects their bottom line. If users start going because they make money selling it. But they sell ads based on users. Users are gone, they don't make money. And once people start realizing that Instagram and Whatsapp are also part of it, they'll leave it-- like they're already starting to with Facebook-- and that one will get their attention for sure. MICHAL LEV-RAM: And it's going to become a bigger and bigger issue because of the regulatory crackdowns. Those are unavoidable. You can change the narrative, but the regulations aren't going away. 

Insights: Facebook’s $5 Billion Settlement Won’t Make It Care More About User Data

Will it make them care more about user data?

Facebook’s $5 Billion Settlement 

Welcome to Fortune text debate. Will we discuss the issues of the day in two minutes? Today we're talking about Facebook and what it will take to make them take user data seriously. So the FTC recently came to a settlement with Facebook for $5 billion. Sounds like a lot, and it is a lot of money, but for Facebook, it ended up being more of a slap on the wrist. You know, what's it gonna take for them to take this issue seriously? Finally, yeah. They got a $5 billion fine and their stock went up. There was sort of universal dismissal that this is not a real enforcement action. And the, the FTC chief said, You know, we need better rules were just enforcement body. We can't make the rules, so it comes back to We need legislation on regulation that provide specific guidelines for Facebook and other data handlers to know what they're supposed to do. I don't think that's the thing that's missing from Facebook, but anyway, that's that's what you know. I agree with you in a very regulations. Sounds great. You know something that will really hold them accountable. But as we saw in their hearing with Mark Zuckerberg. They really don't know what they're talking about. They just had no concept of not just have Facebook worked with Twitter, just social media and the Internet In general, I don't really have a face that Congress will be able to put laws on. The books that are more than symbolic can actually make a meaningful difference. What symbolic would be a start? But I will say I think they I hope that they've come some distance since the infamous we sell ad senator hearing. But second, there's a lot of bipartisan shared skepticism of Facebook, and I think that Democrats, Republicans for different reasons, they don't trust the company and they think they sort of see the systemic problems. So I have some faith that there could be some healing. Maybe it's what Facebook is. What we need to bridge the partisan divide in this country is our shared skepticism. I have more faith in that Facebook will third to care when it affects their bottom line. If news there start going because that's you know, they make money selling it, but they sell ad based on users. Users are gone, they don't make money, you know. And once people start realizing that Instagram WhatsApp are also part of it, they'll leave it like they're already starting to his Facebook and that wounded get their attention, for sure, and it's going to become a bigger and bigger issue because of the regulatory crackdown. Those are unavoidable. You can change the narrative, but the regulations aren't going away.

 MICHAL LEV-RAM: We really wanted to look at what Facebook is doing to address some of its recent issues, but not only through the lens of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and some of the other problems that it's currently dealing with, like bad content that's proliferated on the platform. We really wanted to look at it as a business story, and that really has to do with its core product, its ability or inability to keep innovating. And we went in and met with both Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and other people on the executive team at the company and got a glimpse of the different ways that they are trying to turn their attention and to sort of re-prioritize around current needs. MARK ZUCKERBERG: The big shift is moving from a reactive model of how we're handling this stuff where people in our community flag something when they see it, to one where we are just building systems to get out ahead. SHERYL SANDBERG: The resource shift is real. If you want to know what a company cares about before it spends its money end up where the people spend their time. And some of the stuff, look, we didn't have any team on fake news four years ago. I'm not sure people were as aware of it. I don't know of any-- I don't if any company have team on it. So some of that is very brand new. MARK ZUCKERBERG: When we were just getting started at a dorm, you couldn't have done a lot of the stuff that we do now, we couldn't have had 30,000 people or any thousands of people proactively reviewing content. The AI to be able to find things that could be potentially harmful just really didn't exist back then. I wish we'd gotten-- we've done it a couple of years sooner, but I think a lot of the stuff, really, we can do now and it's just about making sure that we're invested in all these things. MICHAL LEV-RAM: Facebook has lost a lot of trust. And I think you lose trust quickly and it takes a long time to regain it. So they are working very, very hard towards regaining that trust. And to be fair, Facebook is not the only company that's dealing with this. This is an issue that anybody who profits off of user data has today. And it's going to become a bigger and bigger issue because of the regulatory crackdowns. Those are unavoidable. You can change the narrative but the regulations aren't going away. 

Insights: Facebook Needs Your Trust Almost As Much As It Needs Your Data

Facebook Needs Your Trust

Mark Zuckerberg wants to talk about how Facebook is changing. (May 2019)

We really wanted to look at what Facebook is doing to address some of its recent issues, but not only through the lens of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In some of the other problems that it's currently dealing with, like bad content that's proliferated on the platform. We really wanted to look at it as a business story, and that really has to do with its core product it ability or inability to keep innovating. And we went in and met with both Mark Zuckerberg, Cheryl Sandberg and other people on the executive team at the company and goddess Clint's a different ways that they are trying to turn their attention and re prioritized around. Currently, the big shift is moving from a reactive model of how we're handling this stuff, where people in our community flag something when they see it to one word. We are building systems, get head shift. Israel want company here about the money and the people there and some of the stuff, you know. Look, we didn't have any team on fake news for years, you know? I'm not sure people were aware of it. I don't have any out of any company had some of that very brand new when we were just gonna start out in a door, you couldn't have done a lot of stuff that way. Could have had 30,000 people or any of the people of proactively content the aye aye be ableto find things that could be potentially harmful. Just really, I wish we'd gotten We've done it a couple of years sooner, but I think a lot of really we can do now. And it's just about making sure that we invested. Facebook has lost a lot of trust on. I think you lose trust quickly, and it takes a long time to regain it. So they are working very, very hard toward regaining that trust. And to be fair, Facebook is not the only company that dealing with this is an issue that anybody who profits off of user data has today, and it's going to become a bigger and bigger issue because of the regulatory crackdown. Those are unavoidable. You can change the narrative, but the regulations aren't going away

Insights: Facebook

Insights: Is There a Market for Facebook’s Portal?

Latest video

Or should it stick to what it does best? (March 2019)

Videos (8 videos)

Insights: Is There a Market for Facebook’s Portal?

Insights: Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Make Facebook More Private and Secure

Insights: Mark Zuckerberg Discusses the Future of Privacy on Facebook

Insights: The Fed Has Concerns About Facebook’s Libra

Insights: EU Can Force Facebook to Pull Posts With Hate Speech

Insights: Facebook's Libra Won’t Launch Until U.S. Regulators Sign Off

Insights: Facebook’s $5 Billion Settlement Won’t Make It Care More About User Data

Insights: Facebook Needs Your Trust Almost As Much As It Needs Your Data