Co-founder of WhatsApp: ‘It is time. #deletefacebook’

The co-founder of messaging platform WhatsApp is calling for people to leave Facebook following a scandal involving the improper use of data for tens of millions of the social media giant’s users.

Brian Acton, who left WhatsApp in 2017, tweeted Tuesday: “It is time. #deletefacebook.”

It is time. #deletefacebook

— Brian Acton (@brianacton) March 20, 2018

Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion.

Acton left to found a nonprofit “focused at the intersection of nonprofit, technology and communications.” {mosads}

The call comes as Facebook faces scrutiny following a report that Cambridge Analytica, a research firm connected to President Trump’s campaign, improperly obtained information on 50 million Facebook users as it sought to find ways of influencing voters at the polls.

Facebook Chairman Mark Zuckerberg is drawing intense scrutiny from lawmakers demanding that company officials testify to Congress about the controversy.

On Monday, the top Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee — Sens. John Thune (S.D.), Roger Wicker (Miss.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) — sent a list of questions to Zuckerberg about the “troubling” reports, with Moran saying Zuckerberg needed to testify.

Zuckerberg has remained silent. His company has sought to send the signal that it takes the matter seriously even as it faults Cambridge Analytica and other players.

The “#DeleteFacebook” hashtag has also been gaining momentum in recent days.