Playboy Leaves ‘Sexually Regressive’ Facebook, Deletes Pages Following Data Controversy

Playboy has announced its departure from Facebook, removing its collection of pages, following user data mishandling allegations against the social network.

In a statement, Playboy claimed Facebook’s recent data mishandling controversy was their final concern with the platform over a long period of time, initiating their departure.

“For years, it has been difficult for Playboy to express our values on Facebook due to its strict content and policy guidelines. We have been faced with the only alternative being to alter Playboy’s voice in order to meet Facebook’s views of what is and is not appropriate on its platform,” declared the company. “While that has challenged our business objectives and the ability to reach our audience in an authentic way, the recent news about Facebook’s alleged mismanagement of users’ data has solidified our decision to suspend our activity on the platform at this time.”

“There are more than 25 million fans who engage with Playboy via our various Facebook pages, and we do not want to be complicit in exposing them to the reported practices. That is why we have announced that we will be leaving Facebook’s platform, deactivating the Playboy accounts that Playboy Enterprises manages directly,” Playboy concluded. “Playboy has always stood for personal freedom and the celebration of sex. Today we take another step in that ongoing fight.”

Playboy Chief Creative Officer Cooper Hefner also released a statement, branding Facebook as “sexually regressive.”

“Facebook’s content guidelines and corporate policies continue contradicting our values. We’ve tried to craft our voice for the platform, which in our opinion continues to be sexually regressive,” expressed Hefner. “Learning of the recent meddling in a free U.S. election further demonstrates another concern we have of how they handle users’ data — more than 25 million of which are Playboy fans — making it clear to us that we must leave the platform.”

We are stepping away from Facebook pic.twitter.com/4yFIdk2eDE

— Cooper Hefner (@cooperhefner) March 28, 2018

Twitter users and celebrities threatened to boycott Facebook and delete their accounts in response to allegations of user data mishandling last week, which one former employee claimed was “horrifying” and routine at Facebook.

“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” declared Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, after taking nearly five days to respond to the controversy. “This was a major breach of trust, and I’m really sorry that this happened. We have a basic responsibility to protect peoples’ data.”

Further controversies have since emerged surrounding Facebook, including the revelation that Facebook’s Android app had been logging data from users’ texts and phone calls.

In an NPR interview this week, former FTC advisor Professor Tim Wu claimed privacy is “like kryptonite” to Facebook, which he described as “rotten.”