Keeping a record of everything in the lives of humans can prove to be problematic as it causes humans to lose their liberty
The Battle of the “Big Companies”: Facebook and Apple fight over transparency. So what happens when two giant tech companies engage in a scuffle and it ignites public interest.
Well, maybe you guessed it. Yes, I am talking about the infamous Apple and Facebook’s clash over monopoly power and user privacy which just got quite serious. The ouch moment, I know I know.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO doesn’t seem to have something good to say about your favourite social networking website, Facebook. According to Cook, “The fact is that an interconnected ecosystem of companies and data brokers, of purveyors of fake news and peddlers of division, of trackers and hucksters just looking to make a quick buck, is more present in our lives than it has ever been,” Cook further added, “And it has never been so clear how it degrades our fundamental right to privacy first, and our social fabric by consequence.”
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Cook believed that simply accepting the idea that keeping a record of everything in the lives of humans can prove to be problematic as it causes humans to lose their liberty.
However, Apple chose not to respond upon asking whether Cook was referring to Facebook or not.
Cook also talked about the recent upgrades in iOS 14.3 that are more powerful and transparent in terms of giving control to the iPhone users over the data. Now the thought-provoking part here is that these updates disclosed a long list of the ways Facebook does the tracking.
Facebook responds with advertisements
To THAT, Facebook responded by publishing full-page advertisements in newspapers accusing Apple of causing harm to the small-scale businesses by not letting Facebook harness the power of advertising tools for them.
According to recent reports, Facebook has gone on to take the “Apple is anti-business” ideology a step further. The Information published a report recently claiming that Facebook is all set to launch an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.
Facebook has based its lawsuit on the claim that Apple allows its own apps to run without any fee structures and claims whereas other iOS app makers have to abide by Apple’s regulations. These regulations are different which has created confusion. However, Tim Cook claimed that Apple’s apps operate within the same framework available for everybody else.
A spokesperson from Facebook didn’t confirm the rumours regarding the lawsuit. Still, the company’s stance on Apple’s move was reiterated that Apple is being wrongfully competitive as it has opted to derive benefits at the expense of small businesses and app developers.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO also took into account Apple’s earnings call. He added, “Apple has every incentive to use their dominant platform position to interfere with how our apps and other apps work, which they regularly do to preference their own,”
And this is not it. Apple has also been criticized by Fortnite’s maker, Epic, too. Epic is already in process of suing Google and Apple. The reason being the cut being taken by these companies on app purchases.
Finger-Pointing Each Other
The censure involved from both sides sounds quite legitimate and appropriate. However, it gives an impression of finger-pointing with a motive in the minds behind these claims.
Apple and Facebook, both are facing antitrust probes from the state as well as federal level governments. While investigations related to Apple are still underway, Facebook has been sued already. Poor Facebook!
The bottomline is that these companies are quite famous among the masses as millions use their products which makes these companies publicly significant. It is also the reason why prosecutors are pursuing these cases eagerly. But it seems more like a well-thought-out PR war.
Let me explain with an analogy. It feels more like one monopoly is blaming another monopoly for being more harmful so that they can avoid being charged for being, guess what, A MONOPOLY!
Clever, isn’t it? JUST in case, it IS.
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