Uber lost more than a few users over the past 24 hours.
The hashtag #DeleteUber is beginning to spread on social media in response to Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
The ride-hailing service that most of us have a love/hate relationship with was accused of “strike breaking” in New York yesterday.
On top of this, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is facing backlash after he made remarks indicating that he would work with the president.
In response to Trump’s new executive order than bans citizens of seven majority Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, Kalanick released a statement saying that the “ban will impact many innocent people.” He said that Uber would compensate drivers stranded outside the country for the next three months.
South of the border, hundreds headed to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport Saturday to demonstrate against Trump’s executive order.
The NY Taxi Workers Alliance called for an hour work stoppage at the airport in protest. When Uber Tweeted that surge pricing had been turned off at the airport, it didn’t take long for people to condemn the company as a “strike breaker.”
And then the #DeleteUber movement began.
Former Uber users took to Twitter and Facebook to share screenshots of themselves deleting their Uber accounts, accompanied by strong messages to the company.
#deleteUber Here’s the NY Taxi Workers Alliance Statement on the refugee ban. @Uber is still trying to go to JFK anyway pic.twitter.com/qQAkPm2r9s
— Eric Murphy (@EricRMurphy) January 29, 2017
I’ve used .@uber for years. No more. Their CEO is colluding with Trump and has chosen not to decry the ban.
I’m deleting. Please join me. pic.twitter.com/UkTFOOvtck
— Julieanne Smolinski (@BoobsRadley) January 29, 2017
A spokesperson for the company provided a short statement to say that Uber turned off surge pricing to allow more of its users to participate in the protest:
“We’re sorry for any confusion about our earlier tweet—it was not meant to break up any strike. We wanted people to know they could use Uber to get to and from JFK at normal prices, especially tonight,” said the company.
At a time when emotions are running high, that simply wasn’t enough for former users of the app.
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