Using the tech company label as if it was a random startup is not really relevant given the place Facebook has in our societies. Also it's not 00's "don't be evil" anymore, governments should absolutely shake down ad tech IMHO.
Shake down is sort of a silly phrase but I mean I run an adtech startup and the space could use more regulation to be sure. Right now its not really serving anyone except the adtech companies themselves. Neither consumers (privacy violations) nor advertisers (dealing with fraud both explicit and implicit through friendly fraud with bunk data) are getting what they want out of it unless you're an F500 bullying your way into solutions with cash (but even then not always)
Abuse? Ad tech doesn’t give a shit. Ad tech is complicit. And it isn’t just dictatorships - it’s the powerful in general (eg how they censor pro-Palestinian content [1]).
What do you do in a situation like this? Simple. Let Facebook open source it’s policies and algorithms which regulate its platforms. Let us see what the watchers have deemed worthy of censorship and intervention. Let Facebook publish how much the Egyptian and Saudi governments spend on their platforms to undermine their citizens. They won’t though because Facebook, in this area (foreign power related) has carefully ensured that it remains aligned with US foreign policy positions.
Modern day ad tech is all about tracking and targeting groups based on their interests, something any government trying to deal with dissidents will be interested in.
