Samsung imposes Facebook on its smartphone customers and blocks uninstall

Smartphone giant Samsung has apparently struck a deal with Facebook to force the installation of the app on its phones.

The move, which was highlighted by Bloomberg, is not by itself remarkable. It’s not uncommon for smartphone OEMs to partner with third parties to preinstall their stuff on phones, although push-back against ‘bloatware’ has made this less common than it once was. What is causing some degree of backlash is the fact that it’s not possible to uninstall this imposed Facebook app, only to disable it.

The Bloomberg story quotes a Facebook spokesperson as saying the disabled app is effectively uninstalled as is no longer collects data for Facebook, but if that’s the case then why prevent its removal? Samsung didn’t provide Bloomberg with any further explanation.

This correspondent can confirm that this doesn’t just apply to new phones. I recently did a factory reset of my old Samsung Galaxy S7 in order to bequeath it to my son. Once the process was complete I was surprised to see the Facebook app appear on the home screen and can confirm that I wasn’t given the option to uninstall it.

Which raises a significant issue with the imposition of social media apps on phones that other reports seem to have overlooked: mental health. In a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt revealed a sharp increase in reported mental health issues among US teenagers and young adults in the last decade. As you can see in the clip below he theorises that a major contributing factor to this is social media use, especially on smartphones.

Many parents, this one included, have decided that their children should not use any form of social media, including IM apps such as Whatsapp, due to the threat they pose to their mental health. Not only does social media seem likely to make children more socially obsessive, self-conscious and distracted, it also facilitates some forms of bullying and leaves a digital footprint that it seems likely their adult selves will regret.

For this reason, on top of the general arrogant presumption involved in trying to commercially manipulate your own customers, this looks like a bad move by both Samsung and Facebook. Neither of them are in the strongestposition to throw their weight around these days and the smartest thing to do in the light of this revelation would be for them to reinstate the ability to uninstall the Facebook app from Samsung phones.