Hook, Line, and Sinker

I see that the editors of the Washington Post have fallen for Mark Zuckerberg’s song and dance on reforming Facebook hook, line, and sinker:

MARK ZUCKERBERG and his company have been plagued over the past few years by a series of scandals prompting critics to urge users to “delete Facebook.” Now, Facebook has an answer: It will delete itself.

The social network is not going anywhere, of course. But it will become, if a 3,200-word announcement Mr. Zuckerberg released Wednesday is to be believed, much less of one. The site will allegedly transform from an open conversations platform to a “privacy-focused communications platform” revolving around end-to-end encryption and commercial transactions. Facebook’s focus since its founding has been to connect the world. This week, the company decided it would rather connect each of us to a small group of our friends. The change matters.

But the problem with Facebook doesn’t derive from its use as a platform for disseminating fake news. It stems from Facebook’s fundamental business model. It makes money by selling intel about you to others. As long as it does that violating your privacy will be how it stays in business.