Facebook Co-Founder Calls For Breakup Of Social Media Giant

While Mark Zuckerberg has faced plenty of criticism from the public and U.S. government over the last few years, a closer confidant of the Facebook founder has now come out against the social media giant.

Chris Hughes, one of Facebook's original co-founders, has shared his desire to see the social media company broken up. This news came as part of an opinion piece Hughes wrote for the New York Times that was published on Thursday.

His reasoning for the break up of the social media giant is that Zuckerberg has gained “unchecked power” and influence that is “far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government.” Because of this, he said government regulators should look into breaking Facebook up.

“Mark is a good, kind person. But I'm angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks,” Hughes wrote in the piece. “I'm disappointed in myself and the early Facebook team for not thinking more about how the News Feed algorithm could change our culture, influence elections and empower nationalist leaders.”

Currently, Facebook owns fellow social media giants like Whatsapp and Instagram, along with VR manufacturer and developer Oculus. And according to Hughes, Facebook’s acquisitions mean it owns a “powerful monopoly” that controls nearly 80 percent of social media revenue.

Hughes is the latest in a wave of businesses and governments to criticize Facebook and call for stricter regulations after controversies around election interference and data privacy.