Billionaire Investor: ‘Sinister’ Facebook Could Face ‘Decimation’ over User Data Scandal

British billionaire investor Jim Mellon has claimed, “We’re going to see decimation particularly of Facebook,” which he described as “sinister,” following allegations of user data mishandling at the social network.

“The Cambridge Analytica thing is just the tip of the iceberg,” declared Mellon, who added, “We’re going to see decimation of particularly Facebook and quite right too – it’s a trivial use of modern technology and one that’s rather sinister.”

According to Business Insider, Mellon also claimed that large Silicon Valley tech companies, such as Facebook and Google, would now be left vulnerable to increased “government regulation around the world,” with Mellon proclaiming, “These fatted calves are now ripe for the plucking by governments everywhere.”

Facebook users and celebrities threatened to delete their accounts in response to allegations of user data mishandling last week, which one former employee claimed described as “horrifying” and routine. Will Ferrell joined the list of celebrities deleting their accounts this week.

“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” declared Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, after taking nearly five days to respond to the controversy. “This was a major breach of trust, and I’m really sorry that this happened. We have a basic responsibility to protect peoples’ data.”

In an interview, a former FTC advisor claimed “privacy” is “like kryptonite” to Facebook’s business model, while the controversy has even caused rival social network Twitter’s share price to drop.