Stephen King announced over the weekend that he has decided to delete his Facebook profile because of the false information present in political advertising, reported The Guardian .
The horror novelist took to Twitter , where he has 5.6 million followers, to explain why he quit the popular social media platform.
“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 has received backlash in the past for its decision to not fact-check political advertisements and to allow ads to be targeted to users. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has explained his stance on the issue, claiming that political free speech is important and should not be censored.
“People should be able to hear from those who wish to lead them, warts and all, and that what they say should be scrutinised and debated in public.”
In the meantime, Twitter, another large social media platform, has elected to ban political advertising on the site, according to Vox . Twitter’s view on political advertisements is that they should not be used to influence political or regulatory outcomes, nor should they be purchased. Instead, ads should be earned.
Twitter defines political advertisements as “content that references a candidate, political party, elected or appointed government official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive, or judicial outcome.”
The Shining novelist received an outpouring of support for his decision in the comments section of the Twitter post. His followers agreed that Facebook had gone too far, and many people shared that they had also deleted their profile.
One follower who quit Facebook wrote that they had experienced an increase in overall mood and a decrease in blood pressure since leaving the site. Another Twitter user congratulated King on his decision and added that the social media platform was “killing” democracy. Yet another fan chimed in, writing that Facebook had become a “wasteland of anarchy.”
King has used Twitter in the past to express his political opinions, most recently announcing that he supports Elizabeth Warren in the presidential primaries.
The novelist isn’t the only famous figure to delete their Facebook account over the platform’s political ad policy. Last month, Star Wars actor Mark Hamill announced on Twitter that he deleted his account — his reason being that Mark Zuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness.
