Friend App Creator Says Facebook Bullied Him

A man who developed an app to alert people when someone unfriended them on Facebook says he was bullied by the social network which wanted it shut down.

Anthony Kuske created Who Deleted Me which worked by comparing a user's Facebook friends list over time and looking for which friends no longer appeared.

However instead of using Facebook's API - an official pipeline to access the site's data - he automated the process using his own programme, which is against Facebook rules.

But he was shocked by Facebook's response to what appeared to be a minor rule break.

He said the site told him his app was "illegal and must be stopped immediately", adding that it breached federal and state laws in the US.

His personal Facebook account, as well as that of a friend who was not involved in Who Deleted Me, were both shut down.

When he did regain access to his account, he was barred from liking, commenting, tagging or receiving messages, he said.

Mr Kuske, from Kent, has now been banned from using Facebook's APIs forever, despite winding down and closing his app.

At its peak the iOS app topped Apple's online store.

In a blog post he wrote: "As time goes on, I'm getting more certain that I was actually doing nothing wrong and Facebook just bullied me into shutting Who Deleted Me down.

"It’s pretty scary when this huge company start threatening you with legal action."

Sky News has approached Facebook for comment.