Mark Ruffalo's call for Twitter to be 'heavily regulated' ripped by critics: 'Hulk smash free speech'
Twitter users accused the actor of undermining the First Amendment and freedom of expression
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Actor Mark Ruffalo called for Twitter to be "heavily regulated" for misinformation in a highly criticized tweet.
"As a worldwide ‘public square,’ this app should be heavily regulated for misinformation & spamming by hostile interests," the actor tweeted Thursday. "If Elon can’t do that with his 'company,' it should be seen as a public utility under governmental supervision. This system unregulated will be more deadly."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MARK RUFFALO PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS PLEDGING NOT TO WORK ON VALENTINE'S DAY
Several lawyers and other observers weighed in to challenge Ruffalo's thought process and what his plan would mean for free speech.
"That's not how any of this works," lawyer Ari Cohn replied.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It shouldn't take a legal scholar to realize he's got this backwards," lawyer Laura Powell said. "If Twitter is the ‘public square,’ then the 1st Amendment strictly limits the regulation of speech here."
Mark Ruffalo appears during the HBO segment of the Winter Television Critics Association press tour on Jan. 15, 2020, in Pasadena, California. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
"Actor comes out against freedom of expression and asks his government to govern him harder," actor Nick Searcy said.
Others poked fun at his Avengers character.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mark Ruffalo has actively campaigned for Democratic candidates on his social platforms. (Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)
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Mumford & Sons co-founder Winston Marshall was one of several users who challenged Ruffalo to consider if he'd still champion the scenario if the person in power was someone whom he didn't support.
"The problem with this idea @MarkRuffalo is that whatever government is in power will supervise that the information permitted is in their interest," Marshall said. "Would you stand behind this suggestion if the government in power was one you did not vote for?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And only people who think as you do should be trusted to do that right?" Lyndsey Fifield, digital marketing director for Nikki Haley's Stand for America, similarly said.
Elon Musk has wasted little time making his mark on Twitter since his takeover.
Ruffalo previously implored Musk to "get off Twitter" and "hand the keys" over to someone more capable after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's online tussle with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has ruffled feathers in the media and in Hollywood. Like Ruffalo, The Washington Post's Taylor Lorenz also suggested Twitter under Musk's leadership could prove deadly, particularly after he updated the platform's COVID-19 policy. Musk recently removed its COVID-19 "misleading information protocol in recent days, a protocol that resulted in the suspension of 11,000 users that have posted pandemic information."
Lorenz published a piece last week titled, "Twitter ends its ban on covid misinformation," which featured the subheadline, "Doctors and public health officials say Musk’s decision is a ‘huge step backwards’ and will lead to more deaths."
MSNBC's Chris Hayes called Musk’s handling of Twitter a "near-death experience."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If Twitter survives – and I fervently hope it does – its near-death experience has revealed something fundamental about our online lives: the digital spaces of civic life, the ‘public town square’ as Mr. Musk deemed Twitter, have been privatized, to our collective detriment," he wrote in a guest essay.