Technology

the logical thing to do is whatever gets the most people on the site the fastest

With over 2.1 billion (with a B) active users, they've saturated the market. The game now is to avoid regulatory constraints and to maximize revenue per-user, which means degrading the experience in pursuit of the most lucrative individual users.

It does have everything to do with maximizing profits for those in charge of running the Facebook show, though. Then it makes perfect sense to align the company with whatever political regime can promise the most bloody money for the new yacht and underage ‘entertainment’.

A big part of the Facebook model is predicated on national surveillance paying them for access to their data. That's what gives the 2.1B active users real tangible value - they're subjects of surveillance. Sucking up to the people who cut the national security checks is a necessary part of that model.

Also, I genuinely think the Zuck gets off on being a slimy little cunt

I'm sure plenty of folks on Facebook do. But Zuck himself seems to have largely checked out, not unlike billionaires like Bezos and Gates, now that he's got more money than he could spend in a thousand lifetimes. He's off living his best life with his unlimited financial resources, and only pops in to make announcements like this as an investor celebrity.