Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars" films, has deleted his Facebook account after the social media giant said it would not fact-check political advertising.
Hamill tweeted his decision on Sunday night, with a link to a New York Times report that Facebook would not "police the truthfulness" of 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," Hamill wrote.
Facebook announced on Thursday several new updates to "increase the level of transparency" around political advertising in the face of intense scrutiny from Congress. But unlike Twitter, which has banned political ads, and Google, which has limited targeting of them, Facebook won't block them. Instead, it wants political ads to be regulated and said in its blog post that politicians must abide by its Community Standards.
Hamill has often voiced political opinions on Twitter, tweeting last week that "I like his speeches with all the words removed much better," next to a video of President Donald Trump, and mocking a new year 2017 tweet by the president with a recording of himself reading his words in the voice of the Joker. He's also declared that he will vote to elect a Democratic president in this year's election, regardless of who the candidate is.
In October, Facebook refused to remove an ad from Trump's reelection campaign that included a statement about former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign that had not been backed by evidence. In a letter obtained by The New York Times and CNN, Facebook said it would not fact-check political ads because of its belief in free speech.
