Facebook has created a “crisis of trust” in the world and needs to be broken up, according to the head of one of the world’s biggest technology companies.

Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff said the tech giant urgently needed to be regulated and described it as “the new cigarettes for our society”.

Mr Benioff, who also owns Time magazine, added to mounting criticism aimed at Facebook in recent years, which ranges from the negative impacts of social media on its users to the way it allows misinformation to spread online on an unprecedented scale.

“I expect a fundamental reconceptualisation of what Facebook’s role is in the world,” he told CNN.

“When you have an entity that large with that much potential impact, and not fundamentally doing good things to improve the state of the world, well, then I think everyone is going to have it in its crosshairs.”

Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I don’t know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'I’d just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the world’s most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion – the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they don’t use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features

He continued: “You can see Facebook is the new cigarettes for our society. It’s something that badly needs to be regulated. They’re certainly not exactly about truth in advertising. Even they have said that. That’s why we’re really in a crisis of trust.”

It is not the first time he has called for Facebook to be broken up. In comments made at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Mr Benioff described Facebook as “addictive, not good for you” and warned that “they’re after your kids”.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment but chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has consistently rejected calls for the company he founded in 2004 to be broken up.

In leaked audio from an internal meeting earlier this year, Mr Zuckerberg claimed he would sue the government if Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren fulfilled her election promise to break up Big Tech companies.

He told employees that Facebook would put forward a legal challenge, adding: “I would bet that we will win.”

He said: “Look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight.”