Mark Hamill Joins Crowdfund To Purchase Twitter And Ban Trump
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill has long been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump. Now he’s put his [...]
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill has long been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump. Now he's put his money where his mouth is.
Hamill recently donated to and signal boosted a GoFundMe campaign that seeks to raise $1 billion to become Twitter's largest shareholder and delete the President of the United States' personal account.
Let's #BuyTwitter and #BanTrump! With my #ArmageddonAnxiety growing daily- I donated gladly! #GoodLuckValerie https://t.co/8saF5KMnA1
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 27, 2017
The campaign has raised over $80,000 in two weeks, way shy of its goal. The prospect was never realistic, but all of the proceeds will infect be donated to Global Zero, a nonprofit organization fighting against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Hamill himself acknowledged that the campaign is unfeasible, calling it a "symbolic and satirical" gesture.
#BuyTwitter is symbolic & satirical (Raise $1B? LOL!) Plus-I WANT him to keep tweeting-it's all admissible evidence for #TrumpRussia/Mueller https://t.co/JT7pC9zqwY
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 28, 2017
Given Hamill's status as the actor of a cultural icon, he has received both support and criticisms for voicing his opinions and lending his support to the campaign.
Whether people agree with him or not, he is being attacked for attempting to "censor" Trump. People should keep in mind that censorship by the government is protected by the First Amendment. People have the right to say whatever they think or believe without fear of being censored by the United States government, so long as they are not inflicting harm.
But that's different than banning a Twitter account.
Twitter is a public company that is not accountable to upholding Free Speech laws. They can ban anyone, for any reason, should they choose to. And they wouldn't be violating the Constitution. No one has a right to having a Twitter account. There's a difference between the government censoring a person's speech and a company preventing a person's ability to post something on social media.
Conflating the two is a common error that should be rectified.
Hamill himself doesn't agree with banning Trump from the social media platform, as he later clarified.
Hamill will next appear as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the latest film in the Star Wars saga. Many fans are eager to learn more about his character's mysterious exile while the battle between the First Order and the Resistance rages across the galaxy.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters December 15.
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