CrossFit announced on Thursday they have suspended all of their accounts on Facebook and Instagram after the social network “deleted without warning or explanation the Banting7DayMealPlan,” a group dedicated to a diet plan designed “to eat food that is as close to its natural state as possible — free from processing, additives, preservatives and sugar.”
While the group was later reinstated, it was the final straw for CrossFit. The company presented a list of complaints against Facebook as reasons for leaving the platform:
- “Facebook collects and aggregates user information and shares it with state and federal authorities, as well as security organizations from other countries.”
- “Facebook collaborates with government security agencies on massive citizen surveillance programs such as PRISM.”
- “Facebook censors and removes user accounts based on unknown criteria and at the request of third parties including government and foreign government agencies.”
- “Facebook collects, aggregates, and sells user information as a matter of business. Its business model allows governments and businesses alike to use its algorithmically conjured advertising categories as sophisticated data-mining and surveillance tools.”
“Facebook’s news feeds are censored and crafted to reflect the political leanings of Facebook’s utopian socialists while remaining vulnerable to misinformation campaigns designed to stir up violence and prejudice,” the company wrote.
“CrossFit, Inc., as a voluntary user of and contributor to this marketplace, can and must remove itself from this particular manifestation of the public square when it becomes clear that such responsibilities are betrayed or reneged upon to the detriment of our community. Common decency demands that we do so, as do our convictions regarding fitness, health, and nutrition, which sit at the heart of CrossFit’s identity and prescription,” CrossFit said.
Founder and CEO Greg Glassman then tweeted a video to represent his company leaving Facebook.
A video analogy re: our Facebook departure and the timing thereof. pic.twitter.com/qEkBEzp0TG
— Greg Glassman (@CrossFitCEO) May 24, 2019
