Actor and comedian Jim Carrey isn’t joking about ditching Facebook.
Carrey posted messages on Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday afternoon in which he announced his intention to both delete his Facebook page and sell off his stock in the company. (Carrey did not disclose how many Facebook shares he owned, or their value.) Carrey also encouraged other Facebook investors to follow his lead with the hashtag “#unfriendfacebook.”
The reason? The actor cited the controversy over Russia-linked accounts posting content on the social media site in the leadup to the 2016 election.
“I’m dumping my @facebook stock and deleting my page because @facebook profited from Russian interference in our elections and they’re still not doing enough to stop it,” Carrey wrote. “I encourage all other investors who care about our future to do the same. #unfriendfacebook”
https://twitter.com/JimCarrey/status/960953156262744065
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Carrey posted the message on his official Facebook page, which has over 5.1 million followers, along with a color drawing featuring a cartoon version of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg next to an altered version of the company’s famous “Thumbs Up” symbol used for Facebook’s “like” buttons, which Carrey flipped into a “Thumbs Down” image.
Zuckerberg initially rejected the idea that misinformation on Facebook had contributed to the 2016 presidential election outcome, but he later admitted that fake news is a problem on the social network and that ads linked to Russia’s attempts at disrupting U.S. Politics, including the 2016 election, reached roughly 126 million U.S. Facebook users over the past few years. Recently, Zuckerberg has promised to address foreign meddling and “malicious activity” on Facebook, including by hiring more content moderators, but he has also admitted that he doesn’t know how long it will take to fully eliminate the issue.
Coins2Day contacted Facebook for comment and we will update this article with any response.
UPDATE: In a longer statement sent to Coins2Day by a spokesperson for Jim Carrey, the actor said: “For a long time America enjoyed a geographical advantage in the world with oceans on both sides to protect it. Now, social media has created cyber-bridges over which those who do not have our best interest in mind can cross and we are allowing it. No wall is going to protect us from that. We must encourage more oversight by the owners of these social media platforms. This easy access has to be more responsibly handled. What we need now are activist investors to send a message that responsible oversight is needed. What the world needs now is capitalism with a conscience.”