Mark Zuckerberg Gave Obama an Angry Phone Call
Today in the occasional internet diary blog of Mark Zuckerberg: the cherubic chief executive is cranky with the federal government, and is telling the rest of us about his spat with the president.
Apropos of apparently nothing (latent NSA angsty?), Yung Zuck posted the following today:
[...]
The internet works because most people and companies do the same. We work together to create this secure environment and make our shared space even better for the world.
This is why I've been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government.
The US government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst.
I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform.
So it's up to us — all of us — to build the internet we want. Together, we can build a space that is greater and a more important part of the world than anything we have today, but is also safe and secure. I'm committed to seeing this happen, and you can count on Facebook to do our part.
Emphasis added. The passive aggression did not need to be added, yikes—it's safe to say that because SOMEONE didn't behave on the phone, SOMEONE will not be getting an invite to Mark's next backyard BBQ. Unfortunate that things had to turn out this way. Meanwhile, Obama is like, "I'm sorry you feel that way, Mark," and Mark is like "Why can't you just APOLOGIZE instead of trying to twist my words!?"
Friends are worried they'll have to choose sides, Zuckerberg is spitefully changing his profile picture—the one at Obama's dinner party—and will go to sleep tonight still being in charge of a massive, global data-mining operation.
Above photo, during happier times, via Getty