WhatsApp co-founder Bryan Acton still supports the idea of deleting Facebook, telling a crowd at Wired's 25th anniversary summit that while people have the freedom to make a decision about the social network, he still insists on his opinion. To leave the network.
"If you want to be on Facebook and want to show ads in front of you, do what it seems to you."
Acton began to post a tweet at the height of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when the movement to delete Facebook under the #DeleteFacebook tag swept social networks.
Facebook fell into trouble after the disclosure and disclosure that the British consulting company misused user data to influence the US presidential election in 2016.
At the time, Acton had spent more than a year away from Facebook, after resigning in 2017 over a dispute with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over the issue of financial gain from WhatsApp, and then he became active in criticizing the social network.
When a reporter asked Acton why his feelings about Facebook were made public, he said, "At the time, there was pressure unfolding against Facebook."
Acton was one of the first Facebook officials to speak out against the company after leaving, preceded by the former head of Facebook's growth unit, Shamath Palihabitiya, who said, "We have created tools that tear the social fabric of community work."
After leaving the social network, Acton co-founded Signal, a nonprofit organization that developed an encrypted messaging app targeting journalists and human rights defenders around the world.
Acton still doubts Zuckerberg's commitment to encryption, but said, "If he wants to do that, he will, but he is known to have changed his mind."
As for the difficulty, Acton said that Zuckerberg is facing an uphill battle, adding that Facebook will have more power if it does, but "it will be difficult for them."