Comedian Jim Carrey urges people to delete their Facebook accounts and dump the stock
- Jim Carrey tweeted on Tuesday he was selling his Facebook stock and deleting his page because the company profited from Russian interference during the 2016 U.S. election.
- "What we need now are activist investors to send a message that responsible oversight is needed," Carrey said to CNBC in a statement.
Jim Carrey is quitting Facebook and dumping his stock — and is urging everyone else to do so as well.
"We must encourage more oversight by the owners of these social media platforms," Jim Carrey said in a statement to CNBC. "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."
The comedian tweeted on Tuesday he was selling his Facebook shares and deleting his page because the company profited from Russian interference during the 2016 U.S. election. He asked all "other investors who care about our future to do the same." Carrey did not state how many Facebook shares he owned or sold.
He added the hashtag "#unfriendfacebook."
Facebook has admitted up to 126 million people saw Russian-bought ads intended to sway the 2016 U.S. election. The company has also said its algorithms recommended content created by Russian operatives. Initially CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the idea of Facebook impacting the elections was "crazy," but later apologized for dismissing the real concerns.
"For a long time America enjoyed a geographical advantage in the world with oceans on both sides to protect it," Carrey said. "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."
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.