Australia stepped first into the ring in an attempt to show that governments have more power than social media giants like Facebook. A proposed AU law would force FB to pay news publishers for displaying their content and it promptly responded in what one minister described as arrogant petulance by imposing a news blackout, including helpful health and charity sites. In the US Sen. Mark Warner called the move “an unacceptable bullying tactic that only underscores concerns with their market dominance.” It could be damaging for Facebook as it faces increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over both antitrust allegations and how it handles user content.
For those wanting a helpful precis with a chuckle see Marina Hyde: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/19/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-news-australia-power
She writes: ‘The Facebook boss is —- the world’s most powerful oligarch, selling the lives of 2.7 billion monthly active users to advertisers, and modifying the behaviour of those users with a business model that deliberately amplifies incendiary, nasty, and frequently fake and dangerous things. —– Forget post-truth. Mark’s basically post-metaphor.’ She describes the AU spat as a ‘heart warming generational fight between billionaires” suggesting Rupert Murdoch “effectively instructed the Australian government to shake down the tech firms.” And more.
A fight between Zuck and Foxy Murdoch – shut the door and let them destroy each other. But they won’t.
For sure Zuckerburg and Australia don’t sit comfortably together – Z with Mars, Moon, Saturn and Pluto in Scorpio and a Taurus Sun Venus in contrast with Au’s four Sagittarius planets and rigidly traditional Sun Saturn in Capricorn. Mind you PM Scott Morrison doesn’t fit AU either with his Taurus Sun Venus opposition Neptune in Scorpio square Jupiter in Leo.
Zuckerburg is being rattled this year with the tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on his 2nd house (verified birth time being accurate) financial Saturn, and worse in 2022 since his Moon Mars and Venus will be shaken up. Even his unbudgeable Fixed planets will have to shift ground.
But there’s nothing to suggest FB is sagging, far from it. The IPO chart has Sun Jupiter in Taurus getting a success and money uplift from tr Pluto until 2024.
Add On: Zuckerburg’s hero and model is evidently the Roman Emperor Augustus.
Augustus, born 23 September 63 BC JC, laid the foundations of a regime that lasted for nearly fifteen hundred years and many consider him to be Rome’s greatest emperor. But the historian Tacitus wrote that Augustus had cunningly subverted Republican Rome into a position of slavery. He was ruthless, cruel, and ambitious for himself. While fighting for dominance, he paid little attention to legality or to the normal civilities of political life. He was devious, untrustworthy, and bloodthirsty. But once he had established his authority, he governed justly, generally allowed freedom of speech, and promoted the rule of law.
Zuckerburg said in a New Yorker interview headlined “Can Mark Zuckerberg fix Facebook before it breaks democracy?”:
“Basically, through a really harsh approach, he established 200 years of world peace. What are the trade-offs in that? On the one hand, world peace is a long-term goal that people talk about today …” [On the other hand] “that didn’t come for free, and he had to do certain things”.
Augustus was a Sun Virgo, but had the harsh Fixed Mars Saturn conjunction of Z’s chart but in his case in Taurus rather than Scorpio which is much the same. A’s Mars Saturn is conjunct his natal North Node tying him into the zeitgeist and interestingly Z’s power-hungry Pluto is conjunct A’s South Node, hooking him into A’s baser motives. Z’s North Node is conjunct A’s Pluto in Gemini for another control-freak link up. Both charts have stratospheric dreams of achievement with wide Jupiter Neptune in Cardinal signs.
Kind of figures why Zuckerburg would be interested in Augustus though also scary given his outreach via FB at the moment.
Z’s dead eyes are something to do with that Scorpio Moon, Mars, Saturn opposition Venus -his mother was a psychiatrist before the kids arrived and he may have had a tricky birth or legacy from previous generations which won’t be known without an accurate birth time.
PS. I would have to confess a degree of perplexity since my belated excursion onto FB doesn’t extend to news or indeed to rancid head-twisting conspiracy junk. Why would anyone use FB as a news source? Any mention I make of news sources I tend to think of as free advertising for them.
Regarding people using Facebook as a news site, they don’t. It’s more that they read articles shared by friends and then comment underneath. This “commenting” facility is appealing because it’s something the news sites don’t always allow. It’s this sheer interactivity that social platforms allow that keeps them popular. So of course one can just click on the website of any given news source that allows access without a pay-wall (Murdoch’s Times in the UK has one so even Facebook readers would require a subscription to read a full article) but interacting and passing comments among friends is the 21st century equivalent of the coffee-shop or the salon. It’s the interaction Facebook is hosting, not simply the news.
Thanks Marjorie – so many layers to ponder here! A battle between Murdoch and Zuckerberg…..kind of appropriate for two would-be “emperors” of media kingdoms. I’ve always thought the FB thumbs up, thumbs down icon is very Roman emperor at the Circus Maximus.
In response to the “dead eye” comments here – I have long suspected Mark Z is somewhere on the autistic spectrum. I think he displays many of it’s characteristics, and his intense focus and way of operating in the world stem from this and have helped him succeed. It was clear from the way he began this journey that he is also ruthless. Might be time to watch ‘The Social Network’ again.
Marlorie.
Hope you’re well. I’ll have to amend what I said yesterday about the Information Super Highway about Facebook. I know my Mercury in Capricorn is retrograde. I should have called Facebook the misinformation super highway. This is a first for me on an IPhone. I’ve been writing Poetry for 22 years. Facebook is a misinformation Super Highway, in the land Down Under they must have forgotten about G’Day. What part of Perth is Cricket being played. trusting Facebook, the Test match can’t be delayed. Mark Zuckerberg is used to Baseball. that in OZ means nothing at all.
Marjorie,
I’ve done some checking. It was the Canadian theorist Marshall Mcluhan who wrote “the medium is the message.” That was back in 1964. Mcluhan foresaw the creation of a global village being created through communications. Yet with Facebook, manipulating their information super highway, and how people interpret the information before their Eyes, without time to fact check. Facebook likes its own newsbeat version.
As I recall it was Obama who was the first President to tap into the influence social Media, to attract younger Voters. Zuckerberg’s platform hasn’t been fact checked that closely, yet Australia have been looking it. Zuckerberg can get away with it in the US, yet he can’t in other Countries. Facebook has been a virtual World where no boundaries have been created. It’s quite a realm for Uranus. Technological innovation yet chaos. An Information Super Highway, without any speed limit.
Any more views on Scott Morrison lack of fit with Australia?
I’m kind of tied to Facebook because im a paid member of a small handful of groups. If I have any queries to the coursework then FB is where I have to get the answers from within the groups. I loathe the platform. It is such a controlling entity. When your inside many groups or are privy to family and friends timelines it’s akin to being trapped in an insane asylum. I have unfollowed many people and groups and limited, even tried to remove all posts but the ones I only wish to see. FB make sure that can’t completely happen. They have very sneaky and deceptive ways to constantly monitor you and keep sending notifications. An abhorrent platform.
Agree – it’s gaining an insidious hold over many community groups and organisations. My local council was even broadcasting a Q&A Live on it the other day which seems very wrong to me.
I left it four years ago. About a year before, I culled my Friends list down to 100 people and later further to friends, family or people who I regularly saw or had spoke with recently. Got rid of all those acquaintances I hadn’t seen or spoken to in years. I found my Timeline started to have things that interested me on it and actual news of people who matter to me. But eventually I left – Saturn was going through my 8th – I needed deeper connections and FB was a time sink for very little return.
But one group I regularly acquaint with put all their news and regular updates through it, despite their own website having the capability to do this so I miss out on the news and challenges they promote. They’re a not-for-profit who are big on inclusivity (but obvious that doesn’t include those of us who don’t wish to use social media). Gah!
FB has a whole scam of dirty tricks up their sleeve. A friend of mine was doing quizzes for a small group of friends ( less than 10 people) last year during lockdown. He’d set up a separate page. After a couple of months FB began asking if he wanted to promote the page (i.e. pay) which of course he had no need for. Next quiz he put up, he didn’t get responses and when he asked one of his friends they said they couldn’t see it.
Yes, I’ve heard of this so many times, GnarlyDude, where they throttle people out who are not willing to pay. Facebook is clearly not about community but about profit and profit only. Oh, and clearly destabilizing global governments, specifically, democracies.
I highly reccommend reading or listening to Roger McNamee’s ‘Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe.’ He is a highly respected tech venture capitalist and previously mentored Zuckerberg and invested in Facebook in the early days. In the last few years he is speaking out against this monstrous creation and is deeply worried where this is all going and what damage it is doing to politics, governments, and the upswell of far-right sentiments. Basically alluding to the collapsing of democracies.
He stated that Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t really see anything to worry about and that people should have the freedom to do as they please on his platform (unless your an Aussie News Outlet that is and dare to ask for a slice of the monetary pie that he rightfully thinks is his! – Must be ever so defficult to get by on $100 billion in the bank).
He mentioned the algorithm is set up in such a manipulative way. If you have even a passing curiosity in say, anti-vaxx ideas, or even mention it in a derogatory tone to a FB pal, even if you do the search on Google, it will start to slowly flood your timeline with conspiracy theories. Youtube and Google do the same. If you want also want to seek out truth posts you will also be offered up conspiarcy alternatives. Even though these social media giants are well aware of this, they have refused to change the algorithm. I’m sorry but I am now believeing this is all deliberate – Conspiracy theories are a multi-billion dollar industry today. Even that fact should make some if it’s believer wake up to the foul stench of manipulative BS. It certainly made me wake up. It is directly responsible in creating vacuums of all kinds. Roger has warned Zuckerberg about how dangerous this all is and is becoming extremely frustrated with the dead-eyed one and Sheryl Sandberg. A growing number of ex-Facebook employees and investors are speaking out about the FB platform too and would prefer people to boycott it and limit their time on social media. It’s becoming one of the ugliest inventions in the past 15 years. It’s utterly shameful.
The ‘dead-eyed one’, indeed. Whenever I look into the eyes of the Zuck that line from Jaws always comes to mind; “
Y’know the thing about a shark, he’s got… lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be livin’… until he bites ya…”
Eyes are the window of the soul. He has Saturn in Scorpio conjunct his moon and mars – so much repressed. No wonder he has none.
I guess all the Facebook posts are an outlet for the anger and hate he represses. He can project it onto the people posting Without them, he’d have to confront it in himself. Instead he gets to own the Taurus Sun-Venus end of the opposition making money by believing he’s doing something worthwhile.
When you come down to it the original “rate how attractive women are” website is simply another manifestation of that Saturn-Venus opposition – objectifying.
I have a friend with that combo, GnarlyDude – Moon/Mars/Saturn in Scorpio. He’s an ageing ex Hell’s Angel (he won’t mind me saying that!) and not averse to some wheeling and dealing, but with a good heart. He owns his shadow though and has lived it. There’s nothing like that about Zuckerberg, as you say – just this squeaky clean, scrubbed exterior, but there’s more than something of the night about the way the man operates.
Brilliant scene from Jaws, that is, virgoflake. Wasn’t it about the sinking of the Indianapolis when thousands of sharks turned up and the whole thing turned into a feeding frenzy? “I’ll never put on a lifejacket again!” Such a memorable and atmospheric scene. I believe Robert Shaw ad-libbed and made that entire story up himself.
Yes, there is definitely something not right about Zuckerberg. He has this sterile and sinister energy around him that reminds me of those ice-cold Gestapo officers in the old war films!
I’m moon conjunct Saturn in cancer. Though no mars contact. I was much more buttoned down growing up. You learn to put your own feelings aside when you have emotionally demanding mother’s. But I’ve relaxed a lot more since I turned 40. And if you happen to be a cat, dog, horse, gerbil, bird, panda, etc, lol, then my full maternal instincts come into bloom. Kids? No, you can keep them, thanks very much. I parented a petulant brat of a mother that I never want to birth one and go through it all again, LOL. Maybe those hard moon contacts are especially difficult for men to deal with particularly when they are housed in deep, emotional signs? It would take great emotional maturity to get a grasp on it.
I’d say Zuckerberg has some deep, angry issues with women. Can’t believe Facebook was a sick template for his misogynistic desires. Yet not surprising. I read somewhere that someone said Zuckerberg is an absolute sociopath which is why institutionalised sociopathy flourishes on his platform. The man genuinely cannot see what’s wrong with any of it.
No disrespect to Marjorie but I’m not sure why she has chosen the IPO date over the initial creation date (4 Feb 2004). The discussion on countries birth charts pointed out that individuals have a birth chart and you don’t replace it with their Wedding date simply because of a change of status.
That 2004 date seems to describes FB very well. The mutural recetion of Sun conjunct Neptune in Aqua with Uranus in Pisces makes it purposeless and deceitful and insipid in its reach into our lives.
From personal experience of Neptune, you can feel very powerless to change anything and want to let the world be as the world is. In that respect Zuckerberg allowing anyone to post whatever they want is very apt.
It has a Cancer moon which is why it was so good at connecting family and friends in the early days and there is Taurus mars – desire of money.
I’m thinking the only viable solution to Facebook and groups who use it is to create a ghost account. Simply as a way to see what you need to know. Do it on a computer, not phone. Never to comment or accept FriendsRequests. In the old days that was called “lurking” !!
Jo, yes Moon/Saturn raise themselves and can carry too much responsibility in childhood. I’m Sun/Saturn (Saturn in 5th) and also chose not to have children, perhaps because I saw my mother struggle so much with very little support from my father. However, like you I do have maternal feelings and am especially protective of animals and wildlife.
Similar apart from being virgo ..yeah..i.havent decided anything but got no kids till date but yeah animals do bring out mother in me
Have to say Marina Hyde’s articles are very well written and enjoyable.
Read one about Harry and Meghan earlier this week – the highlight being that the press were annoyed because “they’ve been outstrategised by kale” which is a fabulous putdown of both parties.
Any analysis on Marina’s chart as an aside?
Thanks Marjorie. That Marina Hyde article is packed full of gems!
“People often claim you’re frozen developmentally at the time you become famous, which presumably stunts Zuckerberg back at the stage he was in his Harvard dorm room. I can’t believe a product created to rate women has ended up as what the business professor and tech commentator Scott Galloway calls “the biggest prostitute of hate in the history of mankind”. Honestly, what were the chances?”