News overview creator and WhatsApp boss leave Facebook

The creator of the news feed and the current boss of WhatsApp are both leaving Facebook. That happens a week after founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a change of course for the company.

It is unknown why both top executives leave, but Zuckerberg refers several times in his post to the change of course, which should make Facebook a platform with a focus on privacy. “This is an important change as we begin the next chapter of our work to build a privacy-focused social foundation for the future,” said Zuckerberg.

Chris Cox was the executive of the Facebook app and worked for the company for 13 years. His best-known contribution is the News Overview, in which posts from friends and companies come together. Chris Daniels has held many positions and has been the leader of chat app WhatsApp since the departure of the original founders last year.

According to Buzzfeed, the departure of both top executives is indeed related to the execution of the new vision, something they would not like. That’s what sources within the company say. Several top executives are said to have had their doubts about the company’s new direction since last year, which includes combined back-ends of Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct and WhatsApp with end-to-end encrypted chats between all three.