Messaging app Rakuten Viber has removed all Facebook touchpoints and ceased all ad spending on the social networking platform over the latter’s data privacy violations and failure to combat hate speech.
On top of numerous instances of data misconduct, including the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal in which the political consulting firm improperly harvested data of up to 87 million Facebook users, Viber sees Facebook’s hate-speech stumble as the last straw. As such, the messaging app is taking the #StopHateForProfit movement a step further, cutting all business ties with Facebook.
“Facebook continues to demonstrate poor judgment in understanding its role in today’s world,” said Viber chief executive officer Djamel Agaoua.
Agaoua continued, “From the company’s mishandling of data and lack of privacy in its apps, to its outrageous stand of avoiding the steps necessary to protect the public from violent and dangerous rhetoric, Facebook has gone too far.”
“We are not the arbiters of truth, but the truth is some people are suffering from the proliferation of violent content and companies must take a clear stand,” asserted Agaoua.
