A check on Facebook

Facebook has suffered the largest one-day drop in market value in US history – $119 billion. This knocks the personal fortune of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, by about $16 billion, although he remains firmly in the black (Mr Zuckerberg is worth about $70.5 billion). Facebook, far from being in freefall, is now firmly embedded in the global economy, boasting about 2.23 billion monthly active users. With an estimated 3 billion people able to access the platform (China is off limits), its growth was always bound to stall.

Maturity brings challenges. Just as the expansion of the railways in the 19th century invited state regulation, so politicians have started to respond to fears about abuse of personal data, fake news and even social media functioning as a tool of oppression: it is alleged that Facebook has unwittingly featured in Myanmar’s genocide. Facebook has engaged in a hiring spree in an effort to stay on top of things. It might be that the biggest dent in its value comes from customer dissatisfaction. One million Europeans have stopped using Facebook since the introduction of new privacy laws. Politicians are hardwired to respond to all challenges with regulation, but consumers are pretty good at judging products for themselves and, when they wish, walking away.

Shirley Cramer CBE writes on telegraph.co.uk in support of Scroll Free September, a chance to go “cold turkey” from social media for a month, and the time may come when individuals regulate their internet use as carefully as calorie intake. Given half a chance, the free market can be a superb regulator, forcing companies to meet the rising expectations of their clientele.