Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, is building a $13-billion data centre in Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton.
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta believes in giving people the power to shape the world according to their will. They want to give us the tools to reach our full potential, and to make sure the future belongs to us all. But they can’t build “the future of human connection” without the proper infrastructure — and us: the workers, the rulers, and the resources.
To Meta, it seems, the bright future will never come to be without data centres. They call them “the backbone” of their vision, and all it will take is whatever we have to give.
Without these transformative technologies, we may very well be lost in the big, dark universe, and subject to the ravages of ignorance, confusion, and chaos.
Prometheus may be destined to have his liver eaten every day for eternity as punishment for bringing the fires of knowledge and innovation to humanity, but where would we be without Meta glasses, Instagram reels, and the Meta Quest 3 VR headset?
There is a disturbing amount of claims, lawsuits, documents, and whistles blown that all point to Meta’s products harming young users.
Right now, there are 29 U.S. states accusing the company of improperly collecting and using the personal data of children under 13. Four of those states are also accusing Meta of intentionally designing their products to hook kids on their platform, contributing to depression, anxiety, and suicide. Closer to home, a B.C. class-action lawsuit has accused Meta of harming the mental health of children.
Whistleblowers and former employees say that Meta knew their platforms were unsafe for children, knew it could have fixed the problems, but didn’t because the money was just too good.
The minotaur doesn’t look so scary when it’s only chasing kids.
On top of all that dark stuff, Meta doesn’t even allow Canadians to share Canadian news. The company says it’s because the Canadian government’s Online News Act is fundamentally flawed.
Most, if not all, publications rely on advertising to help fund their journalism. As advertising has moved online, companies like Google and Meta have swallowed up a huge share of that market, leaving publishers with far less advertising revenue than they did before social media.
Essentially, the Online News Act is meant to help news publishers and broadcasters get paid in light of this brave new world of advertising that we now live in.
Google and the Canadian government came to an agreement in which Google distributed money to Canadian news organizations while continuing to show Canadian news. Meta chose another route: it blocked Canadian news from being shared on its platforms.
Try sharing a CBC article on your Facebook page (if any of you still use that site) and you’ll get a pop-up that says, “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be shared.”
So here’s how I see it: we’re happy to invite a company into our home that has established itself as the future of human connection, but it won’t even let us share the news.
You are not allowed to share an article about the data centre on Meta’s own platforms.
I get all the economic benefits of inviting the vampire through the door. But why does this behemoth get to lay claim to a piece of our home on native land, yet it doesn’t even care enough to allow us to read our news?
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