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Playboy withdraws from Facebook

The men's magazine has ditched the embattled social network over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Bunny Hostesses at New York Playboy Club

Playboy has stopped making eyes at Facebook.

Bettmann

If you're interested in reading the articles in Playboy, you have to go back to doing it the old-fashioned way instead of finding them through Facebook. Following the social network's ongoing data scandal, the men's magazine established by Hugh Hefner has deactivated its Facebook pages.

The recent controversy about Cambridge Analytica's manipulation of Facebook users has led to a call for people and brands to #DeleteFacebook. Playboy's decision to take matters into its own hands comes hard on the heels of Elon Musk taking down Tesla and SpaceX pages.

In a statement, Playboy said it has long struggled with Facebook's restrictions on sexual content, and the latest brouhaha is the last straw.

The publisher's CEO Cooper Hefner, son of the late founder Hugh Hefner, laid bare why the relationship  between Playboy and Facebook has reached a climax.

At the time of writing, some pages related to the Playboy brand are still live on Facebook, including some merchandising and international spin-offs.