Stephen King quits Facebook over use of 'false' political adverts

'I am not confident in its ability to protect its users’ privacy,' the author said

Stephen King has quit Facebook after criticising the “false” political advertising featured on Mark Zuckerberg’s social media site.

The author announced the news to his fans and told them he will be using Twitter to communicate with them instead.

“I’m quitting Facebook,” he wrote. “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.”

Zuckerberg has recently been heavily criticised for refusing to ban political ads from running on the site despite the fact Facebook does not check the facts they present.

Last year, Sacha Baron Cohen launched a scathing attack on the figure’s site

“If you pay them, Facebook will run any ‘political’ ad you want, even if it’s a lie,” he said. “And they’ll even help you micro-target those lies to their users for maximum effect.

“Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem’."

Facebook’s decision led to Zuckerberg being grilled by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez about his platform’s controversial fact-checking policies back in October.

The CEO stammered through his responses, at times correcting his own answers later on in the questioning