Sacha Baron Cohen criticises Facebook’s position on political adverts

Hitler would have been allowed to advertise his “solution to the Jewish problem” had Facebook been around in the 1930s, the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has said in a scathing attack on social media companies.

Describing social media as the “greatest propaganda machine in history”, the Ali G actor said: “If you pay them, Facebook will run any ‘political’ ad you want, even if it’s a lie. And they’ll even help you micro-target those lies to their users for maximum effect.

“Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem’.

“So here’s a good standard and practice. Facebook, start fact-checking political ads, stop before you run them, stop micro-targeting lies immediately. If they prove to be lies, give back the money and don’t publish them.”

Baron Cohen accused Facebook, Google and others of facilitating hate on their sites after accepting a leadership award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group devoted to fighting antisemitism, in New York.

Via Sky News