#DeleteFacebook: But what about Instagram and Whatsapp?!
They are all collecting your data in a very similar way
Ever since Christopher Wylie blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica scandal on Saturday March 17, 2018 Facebook has been taking the beats from all around the globe especially through #DeleteFacebook movement. Mr. Wylie (former Director of Research at Cambridge Analytica) provided The Guardian documentation that convicts Cambridge Analytica for unauthorized possession of personal private data from 50 million facebook users and using it for political purposes related to 2016 US presidential elections.
Who joined #DeleteFacebook Movement up till now?
Since the scandal took place many corporate and public figures joined the movement #DeleteFacebook in protest for privacy protection, a concept proven to be hard to accomplish on the internet. Below are the top figures or brands that ditched facebook since March 17th:
Will Ferrell
Comedian Will Ferrel joined #DeleteFacebook, he wrote a statement on his Facebook page on March 27th announcing it’s deletion within 72 hours. He said:
It’s important that we protect the truth, as well as those who work to bring it to light. I can no longer, in good conscience, use the services of a company that allowed the spread of propaganda and directly aimed it at those most vulnerable.
Will Ferrel
Playboy
Playboy 25 million fans pages released a statement on Tuesday March 27th announcing it’s withdrawal from Facebook.
The recent news about Facebook’s alleged mismanagement of users’ data has solidified our decision to suspend our activity on the platform at this time. There are more than 25 million fans who engage with Playboy via our various Facebook pages, and we do not want to be complicit in exposing them to the reported practices.
Playboy
Pepboys, Sonos and Mozilla
All three brands released statements expressing their disappointment by the news coming from Silicon Valley, they didn’t #DeleteFacebook though and their public profiles are still accessible but they all halted facebook ads.
SpaceX and Tesla
SpaceX and Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk joined #DeleteFacebook in a funny way, claiming on twitter that he didn’t realize that Tesla and SpaceX had facebook pages, in reply to a fan daring him to delete SpaceX page.
I didn’t realize there was one. Will do.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2018
Brian Acton
Whatsapp co-founder Brian Acton tweeted to #DeleteFacebook. Brian left Whatsapp, three years after it was aquired by facebook.
It is time. #deletefacebook
— Brian Acton (@brianacton) March 20, 2018
How is #DeleteFacebook affecting the social media giant?
After such events, the first place to look at is the stock market. Facebook Inc. stock had been on the rise ever since its first public offering on May 2012, it peaked 2 months ago to 190.28 USD and dropped after the scandal to 159.79 USD on April 2 (before trading start on Monday). Forecasts expects further drop in the coming days despite all the action taken by Facebook to check thousands of third party developed apps, and raise standards of what info is shared with such apps.
Facebook Instagram and Whatsapp
Facebook Inc. has acquired Whatsapp in 2014 in the famous 19 billion dollars deal. Instagram was also acquired earlier in 2012 for 1 billion. Facebook made 65 other acquisitions along the way. How will #DeleteFacebook movement deal with those other platforms owned and operated by Facebook?
Before deciding on whether you’re going to join #DeleteFacebook movement, take a moment to think that if you really want to boycott Facebook Inc., you might also want to consider #DeleteWhatsapp and #DeleteInstagram and all other platforms owned by facebook as well, because they are all collecting your data in a very similar way. Are you ready to do it?
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