Brian Acton, co-founder of the popular messaging app WhatsApp, tweeted out on Tuesday night tell people, “It is time. #deletefacebook.”
The hashtag had trended previously in the day after thousands of users took to the platform to share their frustrations with Facebook after reports of over 50 million user profiles had been obtained by Cambridge Analytica.
Acton sold WhatsApp to Facebook back in 2014 for $19 billion, where he continued on until late last year.
The backlash against the social media company has been huge, with shares in the company falling by more than 9%, wiping off almost $50 billion off their valuation.
Neither Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, nor Sheryl Sanberg, the COO, have made a public statement about the scandal, bringing on further criticism over their lack of leadership.
“Mark, Sheryl and their teams are working around the clock to get all the facts and take the appropriate action moving forward, because they understand the seriousness of this issue,” said a spokesperson for the company. “The entire company is outraged we were deceived. We are committed to vigorously enforcing our policies to protect people’s information and will take whatever steps are required to see that this happens.”
