Why Facebook Isn’t So Easily Deleted

Social network’s huge and highly profitable business makes it difficult to hurt

Facebook's data privacy scandal has driven many to contemplate ditching the social network for good. WSJ's Katherine Bindley explains how, and suggests some non-permanent alternatives. Photo illustration: iStock

Lots of people are angry at Facebook these days. It will likely take many more to make a real difference.

The social network’s latest crisis certainly has been a costly one. Regulators in the U.S. and U.K. are now looking into how data on the company’s users eventually ended up in the hands of an analytics firm that did some allegedly shady work on political campaigns. In a round of media interviews late last week, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerbergfinally apologized for the fiasco and promised a deeper look into the problem.

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