Stephen King Quits Facebook Over Political Ads And Security Concerns Controversy

The famous horror author Stephen King announced his decision to delete his Facebook account. King is an active social media user with 5.6 million followers on Twitter.

What Happened

Tweeting about his decision, King said, “I'm quitting Facebook. Not comfortable with the flood of false information that's allowed in its political advertising, nor am I confident in its ability to protect its users' privacy. Follow me (and Molly, aka The Thing of Evil) on Twitter, if you like.”

Facebook FB has attracted criticism after it decided not to limit how political ads are served to particular groups, the New York Times reported at the time. The social media giant’s decision marks a departure from its rival Alphabet's GOOGL Google, which had taken an opposite stand in November 2019.

Meanwhile, Twitter TWTR banned political ads entirely in October 2019.

Why It Matters

Facebook’s posture on political advertisements has led to the exit of high-profile celebrities with millions of followers.

King’s decision to delete his Facebook account follows celebrities like Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Hamill, making their displeasure with Facebook public.

Market Watch reported earlier on Cohen’s strong criticism regarding the Facebook founder, “#MarkZuckerberg, history will judge you harshly — if we still have historians after you help destroy democracy.” Hamill said before he quit Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness.

Price Action

Facebook shares traded 7.62% lower at $201.91 at press time on Friday.

Photo Credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia.