| "Facebook finally stopped looking invincible this week," Molly Roberts writes, after a former employee came forward with revelations about the risks Facebook poses, and the company's apparent knowledge of those risks. Then, for hours on Monday, the platform disappeared. "The case of the vanishing platform revealed many truths," Roberts explains. "Among them: Facebook is too powerful, because when it disappeared Instagram and WhatsApp did, too; Facebook is good for society, because without it, we are deprived of Instagram and WhatsApp; and Facebook is not powerful after all, because when it briefly collapsed society did not." It certainly is a complex dilemma. But there is one clear lesson from this week's debacle, as Roberts points out: In the United States, at least, Facebook isn't the Internet. That means that, as consumers, we can choose to engage with the network on our own terms — or log off if the company's policies disappoint. But will enough people make that choice?  (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg) We logged off this week by necessity. We could log off next week by choice. By Molly Roberts ● Read more » | | | | Why were they holding or, in a few cases, trading individual stocks in the first place? By Charles Lane ● Read more » | | | I was trying to help the aid worker, Zamarai Ahmadi, evacuate with his family to the United States. Then came the Hellfire missile. By John Bradley ● Read more » | | | | The American superpower has lost its sparkle, and countries in the region — from Saudi Arabia to Iran — are figuring out how to respond. By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | Francis Collins, man of science and faith, to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health. By Kathleen Parker ● Read more » | | | | The challenge: Correcting for Trump's failures while denying they ever existed at all. By Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | Beware those who seek to profit from your existential dread. By David Von Drehle ● Read more » | | | | Former Trump press secretary concedes that some Fox News journalists engaged in journalism, but not 'in the evening,' meaning prime-time fare. By Erik Wemple ● Read more » | | | Progressive protesters are walking down a dangerous road. By Henry Olsen ● Read more » | | | | Chatting with others outside our usual sphere, even for a few seconds, makes us smarter — and happier. By Helaine Olen ● Read more » | | | | Just when you thought Biden had plumbed the depths of presidential incompetence, he finds a way to reach a new low. By Marc A. Thiessen ● Read more » | | | | Defending democracy must be the primary responsibility of this profession. By Jennifer Rubin ● Read more » | | | |
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