(Newswire.net — February 7, 2020) — Writer Stephen King has shut down his profile on Facebook, noting that he does not feel comfortable in the “flood of fake news that are allowed in political advertising,” Forbes reports.
“I’m quitting Facebook,” the author said on Twitter on Friday. “I am not satisfied with the flood of false information that is permitted in its political advertisements, nor am I confident that I can protect the privacy of its users. Follow me (and Molly, also known as The Thing of Evil) on Twitter, If you want.”
The horror writer announced his decision on Twitter, where he has 5.6 million followers.
Among other well-known users who have also given up on this social network are Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, comedian Will Ferrell, singer Cher and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
King received over 250,000 likes and pointed out that people can continue to follow him and his dog Molly on Twitter.
Actor Jim Carrey, who shut down his profile in 2018, sold the shares he owned on Facebook, noting that the company profited from Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Facebook’s decision to change the way it follows up on political advertising on their platform was considered controversial by many. Users were concerned that private companies were filtering political content and called on government regulators to tackle the problem.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter announced in October that it would ban all forms of political advertising. Founder Jack Dorsey said it was impossible to work on disseminating information and at the same time allowing someone who paid for the platform to “say whatever they wanted.”
It is estimated that US political parties will spend about $ 6 billion on advertising during the 2020 election campaign. According to the Kantar research team, about 20 percent of that money will go to digital campaigns.
According to Facebook owner Mark Zakerberg, political ads are not the main source of Facebook’s revenue – they make up only 0.5 percent of total earnings, he said.
Still, the company has come under pressure to change its stance – Hillary Clinton found herself among the politicians who supported the decision of Twitter and asked Facebook to do the same.
Following the general election in the UK, the Political Advertising Reform Coalition stated that there had been a flood of fake news and misinformation.