The Parkview Institute
EssayAugust 3, 2022

Facebook's Problems Are a Consequence of Poor Customer Relations

By Rob Smith·August 3, 2022

What’s wrong with Facebook?

The value of its stock has dropped over 55% in the past year.  Its earnings are only about 1.50% of current share value.  It does not pay a dividend. Its revenue is down. Its daily users are down, and its revenue per user is down. If these trends are not remedied through a revamped business plan, you Joe Investor are much better off buying a CD at your local bank. Think about it. A one-year CD pays 2.60% and the principal is guaranteed by the federal government. Will FB ever pay you a 2.6% dividend? Certain guaranteed annuities pay you nearly 2 times this amount, tax free. Can you count on FB’s stock value increasing? One of our most high-flying tech stocks may have finally jumped the shark. As I am currently drafting a lawsuit to sue FB, I think I am in a unique position to tell you why.

But first, ponder this. You own ABC, Inc and you contract to lease a piece of land from Blackacre, Inc. Per your agreement, you build a commercial building on such land and the business thrives. Blackacre decides it doesn’t like you because you are a Democrat and then takes a bulldozer and razes your building.

I own a media company, Rob Is Right that has a business account with FB. We run a daily podcast, the Daily Rob. Over the past year, we have produced a year’s worth of daily podcasts. It’s not cheap to produce a high quality 30-minute video podcast. I have self-funding our production, over $ 1 million the past year. Make no mistake, the Daily Rob is a business. We entered into a business relationship with  FB and FB is aware of the costs to produce our programming. FB benefits by hosting our programming. They make money. Up until July 8, 2022, our program was on fire. Some of our podcasts had received several hundred thousand views, we exceeded a million views a month. We also had more views than a number of network stars achieved with their podcasts. Despite our success, it is hard to escape the feeling that FB has not been honest with us and indeed has engaged in fraudulent practices. Some of our podcasts come screaming out of the gate and have tens of thousands of views, thousands of “shares” and other forms of engagement, and then FB “thwarts” the viewership. Even though they make money off of us, and could make a great deal more, they don’t want us to have a wider audience. We get shadow banned. The issue of course is not just lack of transparency, but misrepresentation. We spend an awful lot of money to produce our shows. FB makes money off of us and we often will pay to have our podcasts “boosted.” In short FB is aware that we are spending a great deal of money based on its representations that it will govern itself a certain way.  Yet, in my opinion, what we have uncovered is misrepresentation,  deception, fraud and  intentional  and willful acts to harm our business. All of which are causes of action for damages.

Recently things have come to a head. On July 8th, we ran a podcast which included a 30 sec clip of a TV Ad of Jerone Davison who is running for Congress in Arizona. The thrust of the ad is a pro-2nd Amendment anti-Ku Klux Klan message. When our production team uploaded our 30 minute podcast, it was removed 3 minutes later with a notification that the podcast “incited violence,” but it did not state why. Our people had to guess what was “objectionable” and edited and reloaded the podcast 3 times. Each time it was rejected until our team took out what it guessed to be the objectionable material. Since it was rejected three times, the Daily Rob got three “strikes” against it for “inciting violence.” Ironically, the complete Jerone Davis ad is shown all over the FB platform. Clearly, the Daily Rob was targeted. A hit job.

Our July 12 podcast strongly condemned Hunter Biden and raised questions about abuse of women and sex trafficking. It included some video clips of Hunter Biden. There was no nudity, just Hunter’s own words. This time FB notified us that we were engaging in sexual exploitation, when in reality the podcast strongly condemned sexual exploitation. The result:  our viewership has been reduced to 1% of its previous audience! Once again, the clip of Hunter Biden we showed has received millions of views all over social media, but FB chose to shut us down over it. Moreover, FB spokesman Dave Arnold specifically stated these video clips exposing these crimes against women would be allowed on FB before our podcast was run. Making matters even more egregious is that we paid money to have these podcasts “boosted.” FB vetted and accepted our podcasts and took our money, but then shut us down for the very same product that they were paid for. Thus, out of 100 hours of podcasting, FB objects to approximately 20 seconds of video that others can run, but not us, and then decides to shut down our programing. Once again, bear in mind, we are running a business with over $ 1 million of production value that is wiped away in what is certainly a willful, wanton and intentional act to harm our business.

There are multiple sites on FB worshipping Satan, praising the terrorist Ted Kaczynski, idolizing the murderous acts of Ted Bundy and devoted to the sadomasochist abuse of women, but our business is shut down because we take a stand against the Ku Klux Klan, human smuggling and the sexual abuse of women.

It is idiotic for a business to abuse its customer base this way, especially one that can make FB so much money. I have no doubt that our program could reach 10 million viewers a month in short order if FB didn’t deceitfully restrict our viewership and shadow ban us. Doesn’t it want to make money? FB provides absolutely no way to appeal their decision or to even contact FB in any way! After digging around for a week trying to find an address for its legal team, our counsel wrote a letter to FB informing it of its obvious errors, our damages and demanding that it restore the account.  A week after our letter arrived, and obviously in an act of retaliation, FB removed more than 60 of our podcasts, some 6 months old, with no explanation other than stating they were “spam.” Spam? FB accepted all of our podcasts and indeed made money off of them. Again a willful and blatant hit job.  FB was paid to advertise many of these videos. They gladly accepted our money, months later they effectively take a bulldozer and raze our property.  Thousands of people share our videos. FB encourages its users to share videos. But somehow, if too many people share our videos because our programming is wildly successful, FB calls this “spam,” and shuts down our site? So a million dollars is down the drain. All due to a targeted hit job by FB. In legal parlance, these actions are malicious, intentional and reprehensible.

It is also apparent to us that FB conspires with 3rd parties to damage or destroy businesses it does not like. If FB wants to shut down one’s business site, it works with third party cancel culture activists to file a flimsy, often nonsensical complaint and uses this completely manufactured tool to harm and damage its very customer base. Sec.18.2-499 and 500 of the Virginia Code allows those damaged by this activity treble damages and attorney’s fees.

Now, I ask, is this any way to run a business?  No one is forced to view our podcasts. FB solicited us and approved us for their platform knowing that the Daily Rob is a news and editorial program. Explaining FB’s poor 2nd Q performance, it stated it expects “a weak 3rd Q as well, citing continuation of the weak advertising demand environment we experienced throughout the second quarter, which we believe is being driven by broader macroeconomic uncertainty.”  That’s mumbo jumbo. In my view, the reason FB’s ad revenue sucks is because it treats its customers like sh#t and is dishonest. The Daily Rob is capable of spending 100 times more advertising dollars than it does, but what company in its right mind would spend much money with FB building a business when FB can arbitrarily destroy the business by flipping a switch?  Why spend money trying to reach a broader audience when FB conceals the fact that it restricts the audience that one is paying for? FB has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders, but this duty takes second fiddle to its political agenda. How can an investor have any faith in the operations of a company that is run for the benefit of its socially activist management and not its shareholders? 

The Daily Rob is a business, vetted and approved by FB. Surely, FB treats other businesses in the same manner. I might want to spend $100,000/month advertising our show, but FB does not provide a platform or contact to even discuss what $100K will buy. Then one would have to trust they are being honest. There is no transparency. There is no human interaction, and again, it treats its customers like bots and not like people. Besides misrepresentation, there is no customer service. The Daily Rob provides content, but if a business sells widgets, color tvs or remanufactured auto parts, why spend money with an entity that a business cannot trust to be truthful, and one that gives absolutely no customer service.

FB has 2 billion users and an incredible opportunity to capture billions in ad revenue.  All it needs to do is to stop treating its customers like dog sh#t and to be honest and transparent in its advertising procedures. If it just quits trying to control customers’ content, it could fire thousands of employees and revenue would soar! If Thelma’s Diner treats its customers well, and is transparent and honest, it will have a loyal customer base itching to spend their money with Thelma. It seems FB’s management is stuck in a Palo Alto bubble, unconnected with the human element of the way business operates. People don’t like getting fuc#ed over. They don’t like being told they are engaging in sexual exploitation or inciting violence when in fact they are condemning both. They expect to be treated as adults and given the opportunity to view material and make judgments for themselves. FB is likely driving away its customer base in droves. Making enemies for life is not a good business practice.

I would be happy to suspend my lawsuit and fly to Palo Alto and discuss our situation man to man with Mark Zuckerberg or any other decision making representative. That’s the way business in the “Non-Metaverse” world works. Historically, businesses bend over backwards to please its customers. Unfortunately, FB does the exact opposite, and it is clear that these practices are the reason it is floundering.

 

Mark, I will be waiting for your call.

First published at realclearmarkets.com.