Zuckerberg to 'Frenemy' Tim Cook: You're 'Extremely Glib'

Says Apple CEO's remarks aren't 'aligned with the truth' after he slams Facebook's 'monetized' users
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2018 5:33 AM CDT
Zuckerberg to 'Frenemy' Tim Cook: You're 'Extremely Glib'
In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg meets with a group of entrepreneurs and innovators during a roundtable discussion in St. Louis.   (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

"Has Facebook become too big to manage, and too dangerous when it fails?" muses Vox co-founder Ezra Klein in introducing an interview released Monday with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg. And one of the topics in that chat makes Zuckerberg bristle: a recent slam by Apple CEO Tim Cook, described by Business Insider as a longtime "frenemy" of Zuckerberg. "We could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer—if our customer was our product. We've elected not to do that," Cook said in an interview with Recode and MSNBC, set to be released this week. Cook added he "wouldn't be in this situation" if he were the head of Facebook, and that the social media giant needs more than "self-regulation" at this point in the wake of recent "controversies over fake news, electoral interference, privacy violations, and a broad backlash to smartphone addiction," per Klein.

Zuckerberg tells Klein that Cook's remarks were "extremely glib" and "not aligned with the truth," per Vox. "I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you," Zuckerberg says. "Because that sounds ridiculous to me." Zuckerberg defends his company's ad-based model, as not all can afford to pay for the service, and says Facebook can have an ad-dependent model and still care for customers. He's not totally out of sync with Cook on regulation, though. "I actually am not sure we shouldn't be regulated," he told CNN last month. "I … think the question is more, what is the right regulation rather than 'Yes or no, should it be regulated?'" Klein's interview with Zuckerberg is here, including how Zuckerberg says it will take "a few years" for Facebook to "dig through this hole." (More Mark Zuckerberg stories.)

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