You know how Facebook famously profited from Russia’s interference in the 2016 Presidential election?
Jim Carrey is apparently not happy with the idea of a social media platform allegedly being so irresponsible that it may have caused the downfall of America (if not the world!).
And he’s putting his money where his mouth is.
Jim Carrey is no stranger to using his platform to share his views, no matter how controversial they may be.
He is infamous for his anti-vaxx views, which have alienated a number of former fans who feel that they cannot in good conscience support a man whose views not only ignore scientific consensus but promote actively dangerous ideas.
(Immunocompromised children can die when people in their communities aren’t vaccinated; it’s called herd immunity. Also, even if vaccines caused autism, which they don’t, the idea that someone would rather see a child dead than autistic is bone-chillingly awful)
Unlike his anti-vaxx views, however, his latest passion may garner some positive attention.
Jim Carrey is quitting Facebook, and in a statement to CNBC, the comedian and actor explains why:
“We must encourage more oversight by the owners of these social media platforms.”
Oversight specifically into how Russia was able to influence the US Presidential election via social media.
“This easy access has to be more responsibly handled.”
It’s true that, when one person or company can buy a presence on a social media platform significant enough to influence the outcome of an election … that is troubling.
Carrey believes that he knows what the world needs:
“What we need now are activist investors to send a message that responsible oversight is needed.”
In other words, people invest money in order to make money, but he’s calling on people to invest their wealth in ways that will enrich the world rather than destroy it.
“What the world needs now is capitalism with a conscience.”
Honestly? Context aside, I have never agreed with a Jim Carrey statement so strongly in my life.
Along with a weird coloring book drawing of Mark Zuckerberg (Jim Carrey adds a lot of these to tweets; does he think that everyone makes their own memes or is he trying to start a trend?), Carrey tweeted:
“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.”
We can’t speak to what Facebook is or is not doing to keep such a disaster from happening again. But Carrey has zero chill about this.
“I encourage all other investors who care about our future to do the same. #unfriendfacebook”
Obviously, your average Twitter user who might read such a tweet probably doesn’t own stock in Facebook, but Jim Carrey’s fame gives him a platform that is likely to reach other like-minded folks. Some of them probably do own stock.
It’s hard to tell where culpability ends sometimes.
Twitter is notoriously bad when it comes to enforcing their own terms of service. People get menacing messages from actual literal neo-nazis, respond with a curt obscenity and report the person who’s threatening them … only for Twitter to tell them that they don’t care for such obscenities.
And there’s no doubt that Russia has thousands and thousands of bot accounts for a variety of purposes (including inflating Donald Trump’s Twitter follower count).
Is Twitter blameless just because they don’t directly profit from Russian meddling?
Or is Jim Carrey just taking aim at Facebook while staying on Twitter because Twitter is a useful tool every day and Facebook stopped being cool around when Obama was first elected, and is now mostly for old people and remembering birthdays?
We’re willing to bet that Jim Carrey takes issue with the monetary element and just isn’t willing to be a part of that any longer.
Say what you will, but Jim Carrey is a man of sincerety.
