Sacha Baron Cohen: handful of internet companies facilitating all this hate & violence

[CousinIT]

The comedian gets serious about how he thinks most fake news, conspiracy theories, and racist, sexist, antisemitic hate and violence is being facilitated:

"One thing is pretty clear to me: All this hate and violence [in the world] is being facilitated by a handful of internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history," he said.

"Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter and others, they reach billions of people," Cohen continued. "The algorithms these platforms depend on deliberately amplify the type of content that keeps users engaged: stories that appeal to our baser instincts, and that trigger outrage and fear. It's why YouTube recommended videos by the conspiracist Alex Jones billions of times. It's why fake news outperforms real news, because studies show that lies spread faster than truth."

I don't want to just quote everything in the video for you, but if you need a little more help convincing yourself to watch this thing, there is just one more part towards the beginning of his speech worth highlighting. Cohen answers the all-important question: "Why speak up now?"

I'm speaking up today because I believe that our pluralistic democracies are on a precipice and that the next 12 months, and the role of social media, could be determinant. British voters will go to the polls while online conspiracists promote the despicable theory of "great replacement," that white Christians are being deliberately replaced by Muslim immigrants. Americans will vote for president while trolls and bots perpetuate the disgusting lie of a "Hispanic invasion." And after years of YouTube videos calling climate change a "hoax," the United States is on track, a year from now, to formally withdraw from the Paris Accords. A sewer of bigotry and vile conspiracy theories that threatens democracy and our planet: this cannot possibly be what the creators of the internet had in mind. I believe it's time for a fundamental rethink of social media and how it spreads hate, conspiracies and lies.

The rest of the video is filled with compelling arguments, including why internet companies need to admit that they are, in fact, publishers, why that matters, and why Facebook and others should adhere to standards and practices in the same way newspapers, magazines, and TV programs must follow the same rules in order to broadcast.

SOURCE: https://www.businessinsider.com/sacha-baron-cohen-facebook-adl-speech-is-must-watch-2019-11

[Wellstone ruled]

1. So darn true.

The real nasty one is U Tube. Talk about Hate,it is pure ugly.

[Dream Girl]

2. But Facebook is fun!

[KT2000]

3. That was a great speech.

tRump was a joke until the internet set the message.

[LiberalLovinLug]

4. Posted before but worth the repost and K & R!

Last edited Wed Nov 27, 2019, 06:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Interesting that YouTube cut the comments. And also cut the like counter. hmmmmm

[dalton99a]

5. Kick