As the world comes to terms with the revelation that 50 million Facebook users' data was stolen by British data firm Cambridge Analytica and used against them in elections and referendums across the globe, one thing is clear: people are pissed.

Users of the world's largest social network have begun deleting or deactivating their accounts in droves, following news that Cambridge Analytica was allowed to harvest users' personal information for use in US President Donald Trump's 2016 political campaign.

Facebook suspended the accounts of Strategic Communication Laboratories and its analytics firm after the news broke and promised to investigate the 2015 breach, but many users appear to have had enough.

© Reuters

The hashtag #DeleteFacebook begun trending worldwide on Twitter early this morning, and was quickly populated by angry tales from former Facebook users and screenshots of expunged accounts.

Facebook shares continued to slide on Tuesday, amid ongoing furore concerning the use of data collected by the social network. The firm's stock closed down 2.6%, following a steep decline a day earlier. The concerns infected fellow social media company Twitter, which was down more than 10%

Finally deleted my @facebook account. If you're angry about what facebook has done with our data then just #deletefacebook We all moved on from MySpace we can move on from facebook too. Remember we aren't the customers we are the product #CambridgeAnalytica

— Eric (@ecarpen) March 17, 2018

screw u mark zuck #deleteFACEBOOK pic.twitter.com/qwEbg3hFI9

— ROSIE (@Rosie) March 19, 2018

I don't know how anybody can continue using Facebook.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) March 19, 2018

#DeleteFacebook
I'd love to but how will I find out if it's snowing?
How will I see racist comments from people from High school that I hated?
Where else will I be able to take a quiz that'll tell me what character I would be from Are You Being Served?

— joe heenan (@joeheenan) March 20, 2018

It is time. #deletefacebook

— Brian Acton (@brianacton) March 20, 2018

If everyone would #DeleteFacebook, the world would be a much better place.

— Corp Jihad Watch (@JohnGaltReport) March 20, 2018

Facebook: you don't have to pay for it because you're not the customer. You're the product. #DeleteFacebook

— Alan Ferrier (@alanferrier) March 20, 2018