Mark Hamill, the actor who portrayed Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga, announced that he deleted his Facebook account in protest of the company’s policy on political ads.
“So disappointed that #MarkZuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness that I’ve decided to delete my @Facebook account. I know this is a big ‘Who Cares?’ for the world at large, but I’ll sleep better at night. #PatriotismOverProfits,” the actor said on Twitter.
So disappointed that #MarkZuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness that I’ve decided to delete my @Facebook account. I know this is a big “Who Cares?” for the world at large, but I’ll sleep better at night. #PatriotismOverProfits ??>? https://t.co/seb2eJMTo6
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 12, 2020
His decision followed Facebook’s announcement that the company will continue to refrain from screening political ads for their truthfulness. Facebook defended its company policy in a statement last Thursday.
“In the absence of regulation, Facebook and other companies are left to design their own policies,” the company said. “We have based ours on the principle that people should be able to hear from those who wish to lead them, warts and all, and that what they say should be scrutinized and debated in public.”
Hamill, 68, is not the only Hollywood celebrity to protest Facebook for its policy on political ads. Comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen took shots at the company during a November 2019 speech while addressing the Anti-Defamation League’s Never is Now summit.
“If you pay them, Facebook will run any ‘political’ ad you want, even if it’s a lie. And they’ll even help you microtarget those lies to their users for maximum effect,” he said. “Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem.'”
