Lush shuts down Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat due to security concerns | Retail

Lush has announced that it will be closing its accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok until the social media sites can better protect users from malicious content.

The campaigning beauty retailer said it had “enough” after the accusations made by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who claims the company puts profit above the public interest.

Lush’s chief digital officer, Jack Constantine, said the company would not ask customers to “meet us in a dark and dangerous alleyway,” adding that some social media platforms “started to feel like places where no one should be encouraged.” to go… Something has to change.”

Constantine said the company spent a lot of time inventing products to help people relax and take care of themselves. Social media platforms had become the antithesis of this, he argued, with algorithms designed to “make people scroll and keep them from turning off and relaxing.”

Best known for its fragrant soaps and bath bombs, the Poole-based retailer has run campaigns related to social causes over the years, with topics ranging from undercover police officers attacking activists to preventing the extinction of hen harriers. .

“If it comes to a point where the well-being of our customers is compromised because of the channels we try to reach out to them, then something isn’t right for us,” Constantine said.

As anyone who has tried it knows, giving up social media isn’t easy. This is also true for Lush, as this is the second time the company, which has more than 400 stores in 48 countries, has said it will leave the sites, having announced the move earlier in 2019. The company blamed “Fomo” (fear of missing out) for the downturn.

Lush said he hoped the platforms would introduce strong guidelines for best practices and that new laws would be passed to protect users.

Until then, the company said it was trying to “protect our customers from the harm and manipulation they may experience while trying to contact us on social media”. All Lush brand, retail and people accounts around the world will close as of Friday.

The retailer said it plans to find better communication channels elsewhere and use proven routes. For now, it will remain on Twitter and YouTube.

Haugen, a former product manager at Facebook, leaked tens of thousands of internal company documents after becoming frustrated that it failed to publicly acknowledge the damage its platforms could cause.

The documents have sparked a flurry of allegations, including that Facebook knew its products harmed teen mental health, fueled ethnic violence in countries like Ethiopia, and failed to curb misinformation before the Jan. 6 riots in Washington.

In a statement responding to Haugen’s allegations, Facebook said it continued to make significant improvements to address the spread of misinformation and harmful content, adding: “Suggesting that we encourage bad content and do nothing is simply not true.”

Regarding the story that Facebook is harmful to teen mental health, the social media site pointed out: a blog post from the head of public policy, Karina Newton, which said the report “focused on a limited set of findings and cast them in a negative light.”