As a mobile customer I know my contract with AT&T allows 2GB of data use per month and I use it responsibly so I don’t have to pay overage fees. However, this month, I received a message from my phone carrier that I had used my monthly allowance in just 15 days, something that had never happened before.

I had no idea how this came about until I found out Facebook has changed their app’s automatic settings on mobile phones to allow videos in users’ feeds to play automatically -- thereby using up huge amounts of data allowance -- without my knowledge or consent everytime I opened the Facebook app.

I’ve been a Facebook user since 2007 and I’ve adapted to all of their changes meant to improve the profitability of the  company and, as they claim, improve user experience. However, data charges for videos I did not ask for and do not necessarily want to see is a step too far. As a student and worker who is simply trying to budget for my mobile needs I simply can’t continue to use a service that is cheating me out of the data I pay and budget for every month.

I've read the stories of other Facebook users around the world who are also finding themselves stuck with overage fees because Facebook decided to trade on our loyalty for profit. This is unacceptable and unfair. 

Please join me in signing my petition asking Facebook to stop automatically playing videos in users’ feeds without their knowledge or consent.