He’s known for his hilarious characters including Ali G and Borat, but Sacha Baron Cohen has shown his more serious side during a recent keynote address.
Cohen slammed Facebook for not fact-checking political ads, and even went so far as to claim that if the site was around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post ads targeting Jews.
Speaking in a keynote address at an Anti-Defamation League summit, Cohen said: “All this hate and violence is being facilitated by a handful of internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history.
“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.”
In particular, Cohen criticised Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckeberg, and even compared him to Julius Caesar.
He said: “It’s like we’re living in the Roman Empire, and Mark Zuckerberg is Caesar. At least that would explain his haircut.”
Cohen didn’t just focus his attention on Facebook, and also hit out at YouTube, Google and Twitter .
He added: “When engines explode or seatbelts malfunction, car companies recall tens of thousands of vehicles, at a cost of billions of dollars.
“It only seems fair to say to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter: your product is defective, you are obliged to fix it, no matter how much it costs and no matter how many moderators you need to employ.”
His comments come shortly after Mark Zuckerberg stood firm on refusing to ban political adverts on Facebook.
He said: "Some people accuse us of allowing speech because they think all we care about is making money, and that's wrong.
"I can assure you that, from a business perspective, the controversy this creates far outweighs the very small percentage of our business that these political ads make up.
"I don't think anyone can say that we are not doing what we believe or we haven't thought hard about these issues."
