, Columnist
Facebook Plans to Rewire Your Life. Be Afraid.
Mark Zuckerburg's manifesto offers a vision of social dystopia.
His plans involve you.
Photographer: David Paul MorrisThis article is for subscribers only.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's manifesto, penned clearly in response to accusations leveled at the social network in the wake of the bitter U.S. election campaign, is a scary, dystopian document. It shows that Facebook -- launched, in Zuckerberg's own words five years ago, to "extend people’s capacity to build and maintain relationships" -- is turning into something of an extraterritorial state run by a small, unelected government that relies extensively on privately held algorithms for social engineering.
In 2012, Zuckerberg addressed future Facebook investors in a letter attached to the company's initial public offering prospectus. Here's how he described the company's purpose: