Facebook is rarely accused of humility. But even the world’s biggest social network has been self-aware enough to know it has an image problem. The Cambridge Analytica data abuse scandal and the company’s inability, or unwillingness, to stop people from disseminating poisonous information on everything from terrorism to self-harm have created a reputational challenge.
So it was logical, when Facebook launched an ambitious effort last week to diversify from communication into finance, that the company chose to spin its Libra initiative as a munificent effort to end world poverty and usury.
True to founder Mark Zuckerberg’s history of self-aggrandising, pseudo-governmental claims, it was done via a “white paper” policy document. Six “we believe” declarations, reminiscent of a political manifesto, talked of “advancing financial inclusion” and designing a “global currency and financial infrastructure” as a “public good”. It was either very inspiring or very Orwellian.