Facebook’s chief security officer Alex Stamos plans to leave the company in August over a dispute about how the social media giants's platform has been used to spread disinformation, according to several reports.
Facebook refused to comment if Stamos had resigned or if he had disagreements with fellow executives at the company. In an emailed statement, the Silicon Valley Company said Stamos continues to its chief security officer.
According to a report in the New York Times Monday, Stamos has been at odds with the company's top brass over the investigation and disclosure of alleged efforts by Russian operatives to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The report said most of Stamos’ responsibilities were assigned to others four months ago, just as information about alleged Russian interference was beginning to hit the news.
According to the Times, at that point Stamos said he would leave but was persuaded to stay through August because it would have looked bad had he left at that time.
In a statement, Facebook said Stamos leads Facebook's security efforts "especially around emerging security risks."
In a tweet, Stamos wrote that despite the rumors, he is still "fully engaged" with his work at Facebook.
He did not, however, state that he is still Facebook's Chief Security Officer, the position charged with ensuring the integrity of the platform's security. He instead said his role had changed. "I'm currently spending more time exploring emerging security risks and working on election security," he wrote.
Facebook came under fire over the weekend after press reports that a political intelligence firm with ties to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump had improperly accessed data from the profiles of as many as 50 million Facebook users via a developer.
The firm, Cambridge Analytica, has touted its role in helping swing the 2016 election to the President.
Facebook had already faced scrutiny by U.S. lawmakers over alleged use of the platform by Russia to send inflammatory and fake news postings to users in the United States during the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to inflame and divide voters.
News of Stamos' possible departure was first reported by the New York Times Monday afternoon, citing unnamed sources. Also citing sources, Reuters published an article soon thereafter also saying Stamos would leave.
Stamos has a reputation for taking strong stands to protect users' privacy. Prior to his position at Facebook, he was the chief information officer at Yahoo. He left in 2015, reportedly over his concerns over a software program the company created for U.S. intelligence officials to search its customer’s incoming mail.
Source: USA Today