Lush Cosmetics, a skincare brand, has deactivated its Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram accounts until they can offer a safer environment.
Lush will be removing its social media accounts from 48 of the territories where it operates under the new anti-social media policy. Francis Haugen, a Facebook whistleblower, revealed that Lush knew its products were causing mental health problems in teenagers and promoting misinformation. The company stated it had had enough.
Lush posted a statement on its website saying that it tried to get off social media like many other teenagers. “However, our FOMO is overwhelming and we end up back there, despite our best intentions.”
“So, here we are again trying to go cold turkey. We have already attempted this in 2019 and our resolve was strengthened by the most recent information from brave whistleblowers. This clearly exposes the known harms young people are exposed too because of the current algorithms.”
Lush said, “We wouldn’t ask our customers down a dark and hazardous alleyway to meet us – but some social networking platforms are starting to feel like places that no one should be encouraged or encouraged to go. We need to do something. We hope platforms will provide strong best practices guidelines and that international regulation is passed.”
“But we cannot wait. We felt compelled to take action to protect our customers from any harm or manipulation they might experience while trying to connect to us via social media. Lush will stop using Facebook, Instagram and TikTok until they can offer a safer environment.”
Lush stated that social media will be replaced by new methods of connecting, such as continuing to use Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest as well as e mail newsletters.
Mark Constantine, cofounder, chief executive officer and product inventor at Lush, said: “I have spent my entire life trying to avoid putting harmful chemicals in my products. Social media is putting us at great risk. There is overwhelming evidence to support this. This harm is unacceptable to me and my customers, so I am going to remove it from the mix.”
Lush had previously quit social media in 2019, after being “tired” of fighting with algorithms.
