'What's Facebook?': Elon Musk Deletes SpaceX, Tesla Pages In Apparent Nod To #DeleteFacebook
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) — Elon Musk is lending his considerable social media voice to the "#DeleteFacebook" campaign.
The SpaceX and Tesla founder deleted the Facebook pages for both companies in an apparent response to mounting criticism of the platform's partnership with a data mining firm facing allegations of lifting data from some 50 million Facebook users for the purpose of influencing voters.
Users who tried to visit either the SpaceX or Tesla Facebook pages on Friday were directed to a "Sorry, this content isn't available right now" message instead.
Musk appeared to confirm the move on his Twitter page, replying to a "#DeleteFacebook" post with "What's Facebook?"
What's Facebook?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2018
In addition to Hawthorne-based SpaceX and Tesla, Musk is also the co-founder of OpenAI, a nonprofit that researches artificial intelligence. He also recently started The Boring Co., a tunnel-building firm currently hoping to build an underground electric car tunnel from Sherman Oaks to Long Beach.
Musk's move comes as the current scandal has fueled the nascent #deletefacebook movement, and while there's no sign of a mass Facebook exodus so far, the possibility presents yet another threat to the company.
"Until this debacle, I had no idea," said Pat Hager of Bismarck, North Dakota, who is considering deactivating Facebook. "I wouldn't have a problem with them putting ads on the side or in the posts like they do, but the data sharing that was going on behind our backs feels sneaky and devious."
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)