Facebook faces mounting breakup calls

Facebook is bracing to defend itself as several US politicians are calling for a breakup of the Silicon Valley social media giant.

"I don't think dismantling companies altogether is the way to deal with some of the complex issues" like data use, privacy, the attempt by folks to interfere in our elections, which are "heavy responsibilities Facebook bears", Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice-president for global affairs and communications, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

Clegg was responding to an op-ed by Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook who left the company in 2007, on The New York Times website on Thursday. Hughes argued for a breakup of the company that also owns the influential communications platforms Instagram and WhatsApp.