Facebook users are deleting their accounts after it was revealed their data was used in the 2016 US election

FACEBOOK users are deleting their accounts in droves following news that their personal information was harvested for use in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

FACEBOOK’S data leak that compromised the accounts of more than 50 million users could be its undoing after #DeleteFacebook started trending on a rival social network today.

Users of the world’s largest social network have begun deleting or deactivating their accounts in droves, following news that Cambridge Analytica was allowed to harvest users’ personal information for use in US President Donald Trump’s 2016 political campaign.

Facebook suspended the accounts of Strategic Communication Laboratories and its analytics firm after the news broke and promised to investigate the 2015 breach, but many users appear to have had enough.

#DeleteFacebook has been trending on Twitter after the social media was revealed to have leaked users’ data. Picture: Supplied

The hashtag #DeleteFacebook begun trending worldwide on Twitter early this morning, and was quickly populated by angry tales from former Facebook users and screenshots of expunged accounts.

“We all moved on from MySpace, we can move on from Facebook too,” @ecarpen wrote, while @FinnDen added, “Facebook is not who we thought they were”.

“Dropped FB today. Been on it right from the start. No more,” added @jmdsouza67.

The trend appeared to affect Facebook’s share price, which fell more than six per cent in 24 hours.

Facebook’s share price dropped after users threatened to delete their accounts. Picture: AP Photo/Elise Amendola

But users keen to wipe their Facebook slate clean should be aware it could take up to three months for personal data to be removed, and there is an alternative to breaking up with the world’s most powerful social network.

Some fed-up Facebook users are choosing to merely ‘deactivate’ their accounts, which lets the social network keep their information but hide it from friends, though this would not protect the data from being used for political means.

Finally deleted my @facebook account. If you're angry about what facebook has done with our data then just #deletefacebook We all moved on from MySpace we can move on from facebook too. Remember we aren't the customers we are the product #CambridgeAnalytica

— Eric (@ecarpen) March 17, 2018

screw u mark zuck #deleteFACEBOOK pic.twitter.com/qwEbg3hFI9

— ROSIE (@Rosie) March 19, 2018

If you don't pay for the product you ARE the product. Facebook sells all of your information to the highest and lowest bidders. Why sell yourself so cheaply? #deleteFacebook

— Donkey_OT (@Donkey_OT) March 17, 2018

Many users are choosing to delete their accounts entirely, though this process can take “up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process”, Facebook warned, as the company wiped items from its “backup systems”.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook. Picture: AFP

Facebook users can also download information shared with Facebook before deleting their account by selecting Settings, General, and Download a Copy of Your Facebook Data. Facebook archives are sent to users by email.

The Social Media giant has been threatened with regulatory action unless it reveals whether any Australians had their information given to controversial researcher Cambridge Analytica.

Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said he was aware of reports users’ profile information had been taken and used without authorisation.

“I will consider Facebook’s response and whether any further regulatory action is required,” Mr Pilgrim said on Tuesday.

Originally published as Facebook users are deleting their accounts after it was revealed their data was used in the 2016 US election