A former Facebook insider has lifted the lid on the social networking giant, revealing that the company operates more like a cult and has amassed so much power that it could decide the 2016 presidential election.

Former Facebook product manager Antonio Garcia Martínez, who worked for the company between 2011 and 2013, has written a tell-all exposé in which he divulges how Mark Zuckerberg's empire is "akin to a cult" run by "sociopaths in hoodies" who make "Gordon Gekko look like Ghandi."

In an environment that resembles a "mafioso drama with a lot of aggressive behavior and back-room dealing," Facebook executives behave more like 'gangsters' than SIlicon Valley whiz kids, according to Martínez, who tells the Telegraph's Alix O'Neill, "Everyone freaked out when they found out I'd written this."

However, Martínez' most eye-opening bombshell – especially in light of the recent scandal surrounding censorship of conservatives – is that Facebook execs routinely 'joked' about how they could influence politics.

"At the end of the day, there's nothing restraining Zuck's vision. One of the jokes we had was that Facebook could throw an election by showing reminders to go vote in certain districts but not others. That's the level of control it has. It's scary," said Martínez.