Mark Hamill expresses his disappointment with Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Hamill, legendary Hollywood actor, deleted his Facebook account for its refusal to require political ads to be honest.

Mark Hamill tweeted, “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.”

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

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— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 12, 2020

Hamill’s message triggered a flood of replies, with many lauding his decision to use his celebrity platform to make a statement about honesty in politics.

“Facebook, pay attention. You’ve lost the man who played Luke Skywalker,” one fan commented.

“The only thing worse than that is maybe Santa Claus telling you to feck off. Might be time to rethink things.”

In contrast, another tweet questioned whether it was Facebook’s place to censor politicians or their ads.

It suggested instead putting notice labels on demonstrably false messages.

“Giving up Facebook doesn’t solve the problem,” the Twitter user replied to Hamill.

“Fake news is everywhere. What happens next? Give up the internet?”

Facebook this month enacted a new ban on posts or ads that interfere with people taking part in the US census.

It will have an online participation option this year.

The census interference policy forbids deception about when or how to take part in the US census, or the significance of participating, according to the California-based internet titan.

Facebook, criticized for its hands-off policy on misleading comments from politicians.

Facebook said it would not allow political actors to post false information about the census, in a policy similar to theirs on “voter interference.”

Online platforms face the challenge of stopping an avalanche of disinformation while remaining open to political debate and free speech.