Sacha Baron Cohen dubs social media 'the greatest propaganda machine in history'

Whilst accepting the International Leadership Award from the Anti-Defamation League, Sacha Baron Cohen took the opportunity to call out social media which he dubbed ‘the greatest propaganda machine in history.’ Cohen claimed Facebook, if it existed in the 1930s, would have allowed Adolf Hitler to post ads for his “solution” to the “Jewish problem” because the social-media giant cares “more about boosting their share price than about protecting democracy.”

“Today around the world, demagogues appeal to our worst instincts,” Cohen said. “Conspiracy theories once confined to the fringe are going mainstream.”

He added, “We have lost, it seems, a shared sense of the basic facts upon which democracy depends.”

“Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach,” Cohen asserted. “I think we could all agree that we should not be giving bigots and pedophiles a free platform to amplify their views and target their victims.”

He began to round off his speech by saying that fundamentally, these companies won’t change because they rely solely on engagement, and, what is more engaging than “lies, fear and outrage”?

He then pressed that it is time “curb the greed of these high-tech robber barons.”

Watch the entire speech below