Rotten Tomatoes changed its policies ahead of Captain Marvel debut, citing user input 'bordering on trolling'

Brie Larson is Captain Marvel
(Image credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images/Disney)

If you wanted to trash a movie you haven't seen because, say, your fragile masculinity couldn't handle the idea of a female superhero with her own film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe®, well, Rotten Tomatoes will no longer help.

Last week, the review aggregator changed its policies, barring users from leaving comments or rating a film until it is released in theaters. Reviews by film critics, which determine if a movie is rated "fresh" or "rotten," are not affected by the change.

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Paul Yanover, president of Rotten Tomatoes parent company Fandango, tells CNET these changes aren't "simply a reaction" to any specific movie. But plenty of critical online commentators drew a line between the new policy and Captain Marvel — "YouTube videos with hundreds of thousands of views have called the Rotten Tomatoes decision a 'disgusting' act of 'censorship' aimed at 'protecting' the new film," David Sims says at The Atlantic. Rotten Tomatoes says the changes were due to a general "uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling, which we believe is a disservice to our general readership."

Rotten Tomatoes' perfectly sensible changes "likely won't quash review-bombing campaigns, which can simply move to other online platforms such as YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter — at least until a movie is released," Sims says. "Then, site users, including those who haven't seen a film, will be able to rate and comment as usual," keeping audience scores hostage to "exploitation by a narrow, outraged corner of the internet."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.