> If they had to comply with local law in every area they operate
...then they would be on a level playing field with everybody else. The alternative ("we don't care for some of these laws in some places we operate, so we decline to follow them") is what is generally referred to as a criminal enterprise.
This a hundred times. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to choose what laws or rules you follow. If it doesn't scale without rule breaking then, well, it doesn't scale. They have enormous resources yet bitch and moan that they'd have to spend some of them to follow the rules. Pff, I'd make a shit ton more money if I didn't pay my taxes or cheat people. How would that work out for me?
If a 1000 (or 10k, or whatever) businesses in aggregate have a similar market cap and revenue to them while also following the rules then I fail to see how a single company has a problem with that. If it does then maybe splitting it up will make things easier...
Precisely this - not everything scales gracefully to "big data" levels - some things require lots of customization and edgecases - sometimes for dumb reasons sometimes not. Given the effect Facebook has had on radicalization I am not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt here.
...then they would be on a level playing field with everybody else. The alternative ("we don't care for some of these laws in some places we operate, so we decline to follow them") is what is generally referred to as a criminal enterprise.