Elon Musk Deletes Facebook Pages for SpaceX and Tesla

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, seen here after the company's successful Falcon Heavy rocket test launch on Feb. 6, 2018, removed SpaceX and Tesla from Facebook on March 23.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, seen here after the company's successful Falcon Heavy rocket test launch on Feb. 6, 2018, removed SpaceX and Tesla from Facebook on March 23. (Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk  has joined the #deletefacebook movement. 

In a series of Twitter posts today (March 23), Musk said he would delete SpaceX's Facebook page, as well as the one for his electric car company Tesla, while answering messages from other Twitter users. Then he (and presumably the social media teams for those companies) followed through.

"What's Facebook?" Musk wrote in reply to Brian Acton, the cofounder of WhatsApp (which is owned by Facebook). Acton coined the #deleteFacebook hashtag Tuesday (March 20) in response to news that the personal data of 50 million Facebook users had been improperly aquired and used by Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm used by President Trump's election campaign. The New York Times first reported that news over the weekend.

When another Twitter follower asked Musk to delete Facebook, he said he would. "I didn't realize there was one," Musk wrote of SpaceX's Facebook page, adding that it would be "gone soon."

Another Twitter user then pointed out Tesla's Facebook page, asking if it, too, would be deleted.

"Definitely," Musk wrote. "Looks lame anyway."

Altogether, SpaceX and Tesla had more than 5 million followers, according to Venture Beat.

If you're a SpaceX fan who loves the company's awesome photos and videos, you'll still be able to find them on social media. SpaceX is still available on Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Instagram (which, like WhatsApp, is owned by Facebook).

"Instagram's probably okay imo [in my opinion], so long as it stays fairly independent," Musk wrote. "I don't use FB [Facebook] & never have, so don't think I'm some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don't advertise or pay for endorsements, so ... don't care."

But Musk wasn't done with his epic Facebook burn. 

"We've never advertised with FB," Musk added. "None of my companies buy advertising or pay famous people to fake endorse. Product lives or dies on its own merits."

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.