Plot to destroy 'Black Panther' ratings thwarted by Facebook

It's Facebook to the rescue.

A Facebook group calling for people to leave negative reviews on the website Rotten Tomatoes for the upcoming "Black Panther" movie appears to have been shut down by the social network.

The plot was reportedly masterminded by anti-Disney internet trolls who had previously taken credit for generating negative reviews of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and making derogatory comments about the characters, including the addition of more women into the franchise.

These efforts are meant to depress the overall ratings of the movies on RottenTomatoes.com, which have become important in the movie industry.

The group, called "Down with Disney's Treatment of Franchises and Its Fanboys," appears to no longer be accessible on Facebook. A Facebook representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attempts to access the group were met with a notification from Facebook saying that the company had removed the page, according to MarvelStudiosNews.com.

Black Panther, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, opens on Feb. 16. The superhero film has a predominantly black cast and strong female characters.

Prior to being shut down, the group posted an event urging people to "strike back at all those under Disney and bring down the house of mouse’s actions for paying off the critics that hurt DC Comics on film and for other parties affected by them."

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration’s deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

Slide 1 of 1

"I’ll be making events like this for Infinity War and the Netflix shows etc so we can rally together to truly make a difference. Share this with your friends and all potential sympathizers," the post said, according to The Wrap.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration’s deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

Slide 1 of 1

In December, a self-professed member of the alt-right said they were launching coordinated attacks online because they took issue with the inclusion of more female characters in the "Star Wars" franchise and commented that characters Poe Dameron and Luke Skywalker are in danger of being “turn[ed]” gay," according to HuffPost.

While shutting down the coordinated effort on Facebook may help, Dana Benson, vice president of communications at Fandango, the parent company of Rotten Tomatoes, told NBC News in a statement that the site is being closely monitored for any activity that may cross into hate speech.

• Add to Google

Celebrities share the importance of 'Black Panther'

03:11

"We respect our fans’ diverse opinions. We do not condone hate speech," Benson said. "Our team of security, network and social experts continue to closely monitor our platforms and any users who engage in such activities will be blocked from our site and their comments removed as quickly as possible."

Fandango is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns NBC News.

Rotten Tomatoes ratings have become a touchy subject for Hollywood. While "Lady Bird" proudly touted its status as the best-reviewed film of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, the website has also endured growing skepticism about its effect on box office performance as well as the accuracy of its ratings. The review bombing of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" appeared to work. The movie received a 91 percent "fresh" rating from critics, but 48 percent from fans — indicating that online reviews submitted to the website were far more negative.

A moderator of the group said rigging the scores for the latest installment of "Star Wars" required knowing "a thing or two about Bot Accounts," according to The Wrap.

"I used them to create this audience score through Facebook accounts created that subsequently logged into Rotten Tomatoes who rigged this score and still keep it dropping," the moderator said.