Cosmetics company Lush says it's shutting down its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts because of the Facebook whistleblower

• Lush announced it will shut down its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts.
• The cosmetics company said the harms of social media are going "largely ignored."

Trendy cosmetics company Lush has announced it's quitting social media just as the holiday season kicks off.

In a press release issued last week Lush said it will be shutting down its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts on November 26 in all 48 countries where it operates.

The company said it's ditching its accounts in protest against safety issues on social media.

"In the same way that evidence against climate change was ignored and belittled for decades, concerns about the serious effects of social media are going largely ignored now," the company said in its press release.

"I've spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media," Lush CEO, Mark Constantine, said in a statement.

"I'm not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it's time to take it out of the mix," he added.

Lush's UK operations made a similar announcement back in 2019, saying it was quitting Instagram and Facebook because it was "tired of fighting with algorithms." Lush said in its press release it returned to some of its abandoned social media accounts in 2020 in response to the pandemic driving customers inside.

In its statement last week Lush said it was motivated to quit social media again following revelations from the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

"We at Lush don't want to wait for better worldwide regulations or for the platforms to introduce best practice guidelines, while a generation of young people are growing up experiencing serious and lasting harm," Lush said.

Internal company documents leaked by Haugen on a range of subjects including teen mental health, hate speech, and misinformation prompted renewed scrutiny of Meta — Facebook's rebranded parent company. Lawmakers in the US, the UK, and Europe took testimony from Haugen on how they might better regulate social media companies.

Lush said it will keep its Twitter and YouTube accounts active "for now."