AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes quits Facebook, citing social media ‘hate’

AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes closed his Facebook account and said he may shut his Twitter page, citing “hate” being transmitted on the networks after the live-streaming of the terror attack on two mosques in New Zealand.

“The amount of hate that goes on in social media sometimes outweighs the good,” Mr Fernandes said in a Twitter post on Sunday (March 17).

“But on Twitter, I think the battle for me goes on.”

Mr Fernandes said his Facebook account had 670,000 followers. He said in a Twitter post on Saturday that while he is “a big fan” of social media, he had to think hard about whether to remain on Facebook after Friday’s mass shooting that claimed 50 lives in New Zealand’s second-largest city of Christchurch.

Mr Fernandes has about 1.29 million followers on Twitter and has tweeted more than 20,200 times since joining in 2008, commenting often on the performance of his companies and sports teams.

He is the co-owner of English football club Queens Park Rangers. AirAsia is one of the region’s biggest discount carriers.