These companies and celebrities are done with Facebook

Daniel Howley
·Technology Editor
0

It’s been roughly two weeks since the New York Times broke the story about how the data of 50 million Facebook users was captured and used without their consent by Cambridge Analytica as part of an effort to ensure Donald Trump won the 2016 election. And it doesn’t look like the embattled social media giant is going to see any improvements to its public image anytime soon.

In fact, a number of high-profile companies and celebrities have already deleted their accounts or suspended advertising on the site. Here are the most prominent organizations that have decided to leave Facebook and why.

Cher

Cher isn’t using Facebook for her personal profile as a result of the data leak, but the singer still has a fan page with dates for upcoming tours. On Twitter, Cher stated that her decision to leave Facebook also allowed her to delete a number of apps she no longer uses.

Christopher Ailman

The chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), said he deleted his account because of Facebook’s poor management and lack of oversight. CalSTRS manages about $224 million in assets.

Commerzbank

Germany’s second-largest bank pulled its advertisements from Facebook after Mozilla, and expressed concern with how the platform handled users’ data as a result of the Cambridge Analytica controversy.

“We are pausing our campaign on Facebook. Brand safety and data security are very important to us,” Uwe Hellmann, head of Commerzbank’s brand strategy told the newspaper Handelsblatt.

Jim Carrey

In February, the comedian not only deleted his Facebook account but also sold his Facebook shares and urged everyone to delete their Facebook accounts because the company made money from Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

Mozilla

Following the initial reports about the Facebook data scandal, Mozilla, which operates the Firefox web browser, announced that it is pulling its advertisements from the social network. In a statement released via its web page, Mozilla said that while it’s glad to see that Facebook promised to improve users’ privacy settings, it wants the company to go further with how third-party apps handle data.

“When Facebook takes stronger action in how it shares customer data, specifically strengthening its default privacy settings for third-party apps, we’ll consider returning.”

Pep Boys

Auto parts retailer Pep Boys is no longer advertising on Facebook or posting to its account following the revelations in the New York Times’ report. In a statement to Reuters, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer Danielle Porto Mohn said “We are concerned about the issues surrounding Facebook and have decided to suspend all media on the platform until the facts are out and corrective actions have been taken.”

Playboy

On Wednesday, Playboy announced that it was deleting its Facebook pages citing the data scandal, as well as the network’s “sexually repressive” nature. Cooper Hefner who serves as Playboy’s chief creative officer said that it was clear to the company that it was time to leave the social network following the Cambridge Analytica matter. Hefner said Playboy had more than 25 million Facebook followers.

That said, the company’s Playboy Radio and Playboy Fragrances fan pages were active as of March 30.

Sonos

On March 26, Sonos announced that it was pulling its advertising from Facebook, as well as Google and Twitter, for the week. Additionally, Sonos said it was going dark on its Facebook and Instagram accounts. Instagram is owned by Facebook.

The move was a direct result of the Cambridge Analytica matter. Sonos, however, isn’t abandoning any of the major tech platforms entirely, as it said they afford easy access to customers, friends and family.

In lieu of purchasing ads, Sonos said it was making a donation to RightsCon a conference dedicated to the discussion of human rights in the digital world.

SpaceX and Tesla

The most high-profile companies to ditch Facebook, SpaceX and Tesla deleted their Facebook pages after Twitter users asked Elon Musk whether he’d leave the social network. Musk replied that he didn’t even realize SpaceX had a Facebook page and that he thought Tesla’s looked “lame.” The accounts were deleted shortly thereafter.

Steve Wozniak

The Apple co-founder said he was dropping Facebook because of the way the social network site treats its users. In an email to USA Today Wozniak said, “profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back.”

Will Ferrell

The comedian and co-founder of Funny or Die issues a statement through, ironically enough, his Facebook account indicating he was leaving the network on Tuesday. Ferrell said he couldn’t in good conscience continue using the platform. He said the site allowed for the spread of propaganda and that he was deleting his profile 72 hours after his initial announcement.

Please check back for updates.

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