Lush quits Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat over safety concerns

Lush has announced it is closing its accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok until the social media sites do a better job of protecting users from harmful content.

The Poole-based retailer, best known for its fragrant soaps and bath bombs, has run campaigns over the years linked to social causes, with subjects ranging from the targeting of activists by undercover police officers to preventing the extinction of hen harriers.

Lush said it hoped the platforms would introduce strong best practice guidelines, and that new laws would be passed to protect users.

The retailer said it planned to find better channels of communication elsewhere, as well as using tried and tested routes. For the time being it will continue to have a presence on Twitter and YouTube.

Haugen, a former product manager at Facebook, leaked tens of thousands of internal company documents after becoming frustrated that it was not publicly acknowledging the harm its platforms could cause.