Attacks on Zuckerberg Spin Out of Control

An 'online mob' is nearly advocating physical violence
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 14, 2010 10:30 AM CDT
Attacks on Zuckerberg Spin Out of Control
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

The attacks on Mark Zuckerberg are "completely out of hand," writes Michael Arrington at TechCrunch. The latest round comes from old IM exchanges in which a 19-year-old Zuckerberg shows "callous disregard" for the privacy of early Facebook users. "But what Mark Zuckerberg said or didn’t say six years ago isn’t relevant to anything," Arrington writes. "It isn’t an indication of his character, or how he views privacy today. It’s nothing, a snip of a private conversation without context."

And yet, people are very nearly calling for his head. "It’s completely out of hand, and it’s just another example of an online mob getting out of control. I’m embarrassed to see people I respect stopping one step short of calling for physical violence against Zuckerberg." The privacy issue is a "reasonable thing to debate," writes Arrington. But everyone should "take a step back" and try to make sure it remains reasonable.
(More Mark Zuckerberg stories.)

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