"Innovators are able to see something that the incumbents and the non-innovators have not seen,and because they are growing the market,they capture most of that benefit."
Milner,based in Singapore,has in recent months been hauled before legislators in Indonesia to defend the company's actions in the Cambridge Analytica scandal,and in the Philippines (where thegovernment has been accused of aggressively harnessing the platform for political gains).
Simon Milner of Facebook arrives at Portcullis house to give evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee on countering extremism.Credit:PA Archive
Australia seems relatively trivial by comparison. The company does face a formidable foe here,though,in the form of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. News Corp lobbed a 144-page,52,000 word submission to the ACCC inquiry,and has called for Facebook and Google's algorithms to be regulated. (Google has an advertising partnership with Fairfax Media,publisher of this column).
"People are paid to advocate on behalf of their companies. If a regulatory opportunity opens up,as has effectively happened with the ACCC inquiry,it's understandable people will pursue it,"Milner said."I've seen it happen in other countries and other sectors."
You get the sense that,deep down,Facebook thinks the Cambridge Analytica scandal is overblown. And,from the perspective of investors,it arguably was.
Facebook shares are back near record highs,the underlying business is yet to be materially affected,and investors don't seem to be terribly worried about the risks of substantial fines anymore.
Investors can and do get things wrong,though.
We’d love to be able to write the end of the Cambridge Analytica story.
Facebook's Simon Milner
Part of the reason the Cambridge Analytica scandal struck such a raw nerve was because it added to concerns Facebook is undermining the democratic process. Some argue the fake news that spread like wildfire on Facebook during the 2016 US presidential campaign,and the infiltration of the platform by Russian troll groups,played a role in the election outcome,which put Donald Trump in the White House.
Milner now believes it is"highly likely"that the Cambridge Analytica breach actually only affected users in the US. But the company"can't be absolutely categorical"on that,because the UK information commissioner is still finishing an audit of the incident - which he said is preventing Facebook from completing its own.
"Like everyone else,we would like to get to the bottom of it,we'd like to understand what really went on here,"he said."We’d love to be able to write the end of the Cambridge Analytica story."
Whether the story is ending,or only just beginning,will be for regulators to decide.