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- Developer Louis Barclay has created a tool called “Unfold Everything” for Facebook users.
- The extension removed the news feed of Facebook users by mass unsubscribing from friends and pages.
- Barclay received a cease and desist letter from Facebook in July and was kicked from his platform, he says.
A developer who designed a tool to allow people to essentially delete their Facebook news feeds says he received a cease and desist letter and definitely launched the tech giant’s platform.
Louis Barclay, a UK-based developer, is the creator of a browser add-on called Unfair Everything. The extension allows users to automatically unsubscribe from all of their friends and pages on Facebook, leaving their news feed blank. Barclay said Insider people can still connect with their friends and family on Facebook when using the extension.
Barclay posted the “Stop Everything” on the
Google chrome
store in July 2020, and said it had caught the attention of researchers at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, who wanted to study the impact of the lack of a newsfeed on people’s happiness on Facebook, as well as the time they spent on the platform.
In July of this year, Barclay received a cease and desist letter from Facebook attorneys, he said. Barclay posted a redacted version of the letter online. Insider reviewed an unredacted version to verify its authenticity.
Barclay, who posted a Slate article detailing his experience on Thursday, told Insider he received the letter five hours after trying to log into his Facebook account and found out it was disabled.
The letter, from the law firm of Perkins Coie, told Barclay that “Unsubscribe Everything” violates Facebook’s rules on automated collection of user content without Facebook’s permission, and that it violates Facebook’s trademarks.
He also said Facebook’s terms prohibit interfering with “the intended operation of Facebook” and encouraging others to break Facebook’s rules.
He also informed Barclay that he had been banned from Facebook and Instagram.
“I was really scared and I was very anxious,” Barclay told Insider.
Facebook’s letter took him completely by surprise, he said.
“Above all [Unfollow Everything] wasn’t a big program, it hit 2,500 active users per week, 10,000 downloads and it was growing, but it wasn’t huge, ”he said.
“Other than that, I really saw it as something that improves the Facebook experience for Facebook users. I got amazing feedback from people saying… they are using Facebook in a much healthier way. for them, “he added.
Following the letter, Barclay sought legal advice on whether he could challenge it, he said, but being based in the UK he would be responsible for Facebook’s legal fees if he was losing, he said.
“Facebook is a trillion dollar business. I couldn’t afford that risk,” Barclay wrote in his Slate post.
Barclay said getting banned after having an account on Facebook for 15 years was a big blow, especially because he was still using the platform, and Facebook Messenger in particular, to stay in touch with friends around the world. .
“It’s really horrible to have been cut from this for a reason that I think is very unfair,” Barclay told Insider.
Still, he sees a silver lining in being cut off from Facebook.
“I’ve been trying to reduce my use of Facebook for years, especially by creating tools like“ Unfollow Everything ”. So I’m actually quite grateful to Facebook for helping me reduce my addiction level to zero. He told Insider.
Facebook did not respond when contacted by Insider for comment.
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