Speaking to InvestorDaily, Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) chief executive Simon O’Connor said that exclusions and negative screenings tend to shift in line with societal expectations.

Mr O’Connor's comments come as Facebook faces scrutiny for its role in a data breach that saw 50 million users' private details made available to UK firm Cambridge Analytica.

ETF provider BetaShares removed Facebook from its global sustainability leaders product last Friday.

Mr O’Connor said the issue of data and privacy breaches was not just a matter for ethical investors, but for “any investor in Facebook”, who should be scrutinising the comprehensiveness of Facebook’s response to the privacy breach.

“So a lot of investors will be looking now to see: what is Facebook doing to catch up on security measures, to catch up on its privacy management, and to ensure this doesn't happen again?”

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Data and privacy were among a suite of emerging ethical concerns and themes, such as the screening of sugar and guns as well as cybersecurity, Mr O’Connor said.