Facebook as a Nation

In Lori Andrews’ article, I Know Who Your Are and I Saw What You Did, she identifies the role of social media as a nation with its own regulations. As people live their actual lives in a digital that represents their real life, their actions can suddenly be scrutinized under the law. However this law does not always falls under the United States because Facebook extends into the global arena. From a human rights perspective, social networks have allowed for the organization of revolutionaries in the Middle East to overthrow oppressive governments. This form of social responsibility placed onto a relatively new tech company leads to the issue of who has been placed in charge of this digital “nation” and how were they appointed. In the case of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is placed in charge of determining the social and political implications of his company in this new controversial role.  Although the United States abides by values of freedom of speech and equality for all people, does that mean these same principles are natural for the rest of the world? In the case of the Egyptian uprising, the Egyptian government went so far as to shut down their Internet in an effort to block out the spread of news and the mobilization of revolutionaries within their own country. Facebook, as a company for making friends and sharing photographs, takes on a whole new set of responsibility for in the global political world. Andrews touches on the issue of a Constitution that would govern these new social media networks with their global reach, however does that mean that those in charge of the company should be able to assume absolute power over its users?