It seems to me that the relevant factor that makes a platform a “criminal enterprise” is not the absolute amount of crime that it enables, but the percentage of the activity on that that platform that is criminal in some way.
If 50% of meta’s revenue comes from crime, then I’m more-or-less comfortable saying it’s a criminal organization. If 0.01% of it’s revenue comes from crime, but that happens to be a large total amount, I roll my eyes at accusations that they’re a criminal organization.
A quick search seems to indicate that their revenue in 2019 was about 70 billion dollars. So if I take your 16 billion figure at face value, about 23% of their revenue comes from enabling fraud (or did in 2019).
This is higher than I was expecting, and high enough that I would be inclined to majorly hold the company accountable. It’s a matter of taste whether or not it’s high enough to declare the company “a criminal enterprise.”
Maybe Google or Amazon should employ burglars—not only do they have a higher legitimate revenue than Facebook, they have other advantages. Google has a better reputation than Facebook allowing them to get a higher percentage of revenue from crime before it becomes a PR issue. Amazon already has an extensive logistics network they could use for getaway vehicles.
The 16 billion number comes from 2024 (and is estimated by Meta themselves), the burglary estimate comes from 2019. Unfortunately, numbers from the same year weren’t available for both. In 2024 Meta’s revenue was $160 and their operating income $62 billion, so we are talking about 10% of their revenue or 25% of their operating income.
It seems to me that the relevant factor that makes a platform a “criminal enterprise” is not the absolute amount of crime that it enables, but the percentage of the activity on that that platform that is criminal in some way.
If 50% of meta’s revenue comes from crime, then I’m more-or-less comfortable saying it’s a criminal organization. If 0.01% of it’s revenue comes from crime, but that happens to be a large total amount, I roll my eyes at accusations that they’re a criminal organization.
A quick search seems to indicate that their revenue in 2019 was about 70 billion dollars. So if I take your 16 billion figure at face value, about 23% of their revenue comes from enabling fraud (or did in 2019).
This is higher than I was expecting, and high enough that I would be inclined to majorly hold the company accountable. It’s a matter of taste whether or not it’s high enough to declare the company “a criminal enterprise.”
Maybe Google or Amazon should employ burglars—not only do they have a higher legitimate revenue than Facebook, they have other advantages. Google has a better reputation than Facebook allowing them to get a higher percentage of revenue from crime before it becomes a PR issue. Amazon already has an extensive logistics network they could use for getaway vehicles.
The 16 billion number comes from 2024 (and is estimated by Meta themselves), the burglary estimate comes from 2019. Unfortunately, numbers from the same year weren’t available for both. In 2024 Meta’s revenue was $160 and their operating income $62 billion, so we are talking about 10% of their revenue or 25% of their operating income.
The $16 billion comes from 2024, so it’s closer to 10% of their revenue.