Why We Deleted Facebook

We shut down the Laidlaw Scholars public page and closed the group on Facebook on September 30th 2019 - here is why.
Why We Deleted Facebook
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[original statement published on September 16 2019]

 

Facebook’s response to the Cambridge Analytica data misuse, the Russian interference in multiple elections and the fake reviews is at best complacent and, at worst, suggests it is complicit. Neither of these are acceptable. We are proponents of moral leadership. Facebook has failed to demonstrate this repeatedly.

 

Facebook only survives because it has users whose profiles it can sell. Enabling them to profit while showing such a lack of moral leadership no longer seems like a fair exchange for seeing our scholars’ news and keeping you up to date with ours. 

 

We would urge you to consider doing the same #deleteFacebook. If you choose to be the product that Facebook sells, then you might want to commit two things:

1. Check the source and accuracy of “news” before you believe it / share it

2. Believe Dean Valentini who says that if you are communicating on social media remotely like you would at a toll booth / on a highway, you need to re-think your approach and impact.

 

In summer 2019 we launched a brand new community platform - the Laidlaw Scholars Network - to give Laidlaw Scholars and alumni an alternative social media space. Here you can meet ambitious peers, participate in leadership in-action initiatives and collaborate on research projects for a better present while secure in the knowledge that we are a charity and will never, ever, share your data with suppliers, advertisers or anyone else for that matter. We encourage you to use the Network instead of Facebook to communicate with others, publish your research, and further your careers.

 

See you on Twitter, LinkedIn, email or better still on the Laidlaw Scholars Network.

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Go to the profile of Susanna Kempe
over 2 years ago

We reflect a lot on the motto that Emmeline Pankhurst coined: Deeds Not Words. Deleting our Facebook accounts was one of those deeds. Now, Lord Laidlaw has divested all of his Meta (Facebook's rebrand) holdings #ethicalleadership.