'Star Wars' star Mark Hamill says he quit Facebook over its stance on political ads - but he's still posting to Instagram, which Facebook owns
- "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill announced on Sunday that he was quitting Facebook in protest of the company's handling of political ads.
- There's only one problem: Hamill has been posting frequently since then to Instagram, which Facebook owns.
- The company's stance on fact-checking political ads - specifically, that it won't - has been heavily criticized since it announced the policy last October.
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"Star Wars" star Mark Hamill may have made a public show of deleting his Facebook account, but it appears he's having a tough time letting go of one of the company's other apps: Instagram.
The actor announced in a tweet on Sunday that he was deleting his Facebook account in protest due to the company's stance on fact-checking political ads - specifically, that it won't - and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to amend the policy.
"So disappointed that Mark Zuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness that I've decided to delete my Facebook account," Hamill wrote. "I know this is a big 'Who Cares?' for the world at large, but I'll sleep better at night."
But Hamill appears to have overlooked the fact that Facebook owns more than one app. As Business Insider's Rob Price pointed out, Hamill has been posting frequently to Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.
In fact, Hamill has posted twice on the app since "quitting" Facebook, and has posted an Instagram Story as well.
In Hamill's defense, Facebook is a behemoth, and owns numerous subsidiaries, including Instagram and another major app, WhatsApp. And Instagram didn't start out as a Facebook company - the tech giant bought the fledgling photo app in 2012 for $1 billion.
Still, it's a pretty major oversight and seems to undermine Hamill's criticism that Facebook should value "#PatriotismOverProfits."
Hamill isn't the only one who's blasted Facebook for its policies surrounding political ads in the run-up to the 2020 election. The company announced last October that politicians would be exempt from the company's fact-checking policies, which meant that political ads could, in theory, contain misinformation.
Since the announcement, Facebook and Zuckerberg have come under fire numerous times, but the CEO has refused to change the policy - he argues that it's a matter of free speech and not something Facebook should police.
We've reached out to Hamill for comment and will update if we hear back.
