Stephen King axes Facebook over misinformation
Legendary author slams the "flood of false information" Facebook allows in its political advertising.
Legendary author Stephen King is critical of Facebook's policy allowing politicians to lie in their ads.
Horror writer Stephen King has dumped Facebook after expressing concerns about misinformation and privacy risks on the social network. The legendary author singled out Facebook's policy that lets politicians lie in political ads.
"I'm quitting Facebook," the author said on Twitter Friday. "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."
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.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 1, 2020
King's Facebook account, which had 5.6 million followers, has since been deleted.
Facebook has been steadfast in its refusal to change its policy on political-ad content, highlighting the challenges the world's biggest social network faces as misinformation grows ahead of the 2020 US elections. Democrats and civil rights groups have criticized Facebook for allowing falsehoods, while conservative politicians and groups have charged that the social network and its rivals have censored their voices.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives have defended the company's decision, saying members of the public have the right to make up their own minds about what politicians say. "I don't think most people want to live in a world where you can only post things that tech companies judge to be 100% true," Zuckerberg said during a nearly 40-minute speech at Georgetown University in October.
Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.