Popular fitness brand CrossFit has quit Facebook, citing a long list of complaints with the social media company.
They include deleting one of its groups "without warning or explanation" and the "political leanings of Facebook's utopian socialists".
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CrossFit said in a statement the Banting7DayMealPlan group, which was for people following a low-carb, high-fat diet, was deleted last week.
"Facebook's action should give any serious person reason to pause, especially those of us engaged in activities contrary to prevailing opinion," the company said.
CrossFit claims to be a "contrarian physiological and nutrition prescription", and accused Facebook of acting as a "de facto authority" on the exchange of information.
"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."
The Banting7DayMealPlan page, which has 1.6 million followers, was later reinstated, also without explanation.
Crossfit said it had at least eight complaints with Facebook, including sharing data with government agencies, censoring accounts based on unknown criteria and weak intellectual property protections.
It also said Facebook is complicit in the "global chronic disease crisis" and is acting in service of the food and beverage industry by deleting the accounts that have identified "corrupted nutritional science".
The CrossFit pages on Facebook and Instagram were officially closed on May 22, and the company says it will not be supporting the platform "until further notice".
Newshub.
