Sacha Baron Cohen – greatest propaganda machine in history

24 comments on “Sacha Baron Cohen – greatest propaganda machine in history ”

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1. A 1

   23 November 2019 at 12:19 pm

   "Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach"
2. Cinny 2

   23 November 2019 at 12:37 pm

   Thanks so much for posting, it's wonderful to see Sacha speaking as himself, love his work.

   I'm an actor, not a scholar, but one thing is pretty clear to me. All this hate and violence is being facilitated by a handful of internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history. The greatest propaganda machine in history. Let's think about it, Facebook, Youtube, Google, Twitter and others, they reach billions of people. The algorithms these platforms depend on deliberately amplify the type of content that keeps users engaged. Stories that appeal to our basic instincts and they trigger outrage and fear."

   Excellent speech, Sacha's best piece of work I think. Thanks again for posting, epic piece.
3. Dukeofurl 3

   23 November 2019 at 6:04 pm

   This is the Text of the Speech from the Guardian

   "So, disguised as an Israel anti-terrorism expert, Colonel Erran Morad, I told my interviewee that, at the Women’s March in San Francisco, Antifa were plotting to put hormones into babies’ diapers in order to “make them transgender”. And he believed it….

   "Voltaire was right: “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” And social media lets authoritarians push absurdities to billions of people."

   Sorry for just posting full quote but for many the text is more usefull
   • A 3.1

     23 November 2019 at 7:25 pm

     Many gems in there. Should be compulsory viewing (!)
4. Agora 4

   23 November 2019 at 7:34 pm

   [deleted]

   [Why are you using this handle and e-mail address when we had agreed that you would stick to one and one only?]
5. Sacha 5

   23 November 2019 at 7:52 pm

   Transcript: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/22/sacha-baron-cohen-facebook-propaganda
6. gsays 6

   23 November 2019 at 8:54 pm

   "Democracy, based on shared truths is in retreat,

   Autocracy, based on shared lies, is on the march."

   Brilliant.
   • SPC 6.1

     25 November 2019 at 10:13 am

     It was the MSM peddled the WMD fiction of the leaders of the democratic free world

     to justify the regime change in Iraq.

     Social media was the means to mobilise against the lie.

     Right wing radio and Fox news would continue to peddle the talking points for managing the public if their social media minions were silenced.
     • Billy 6.1.1

       25 November 2019 at 10:30 am

       Yes.

       Also worth noting all the military – intelligence links the organizations seeking to censor speech have. Some are merely fronts, like the notorious Integrity Initiative in the UK.

       The Military sees speech as just another military tactic in a theatre that needs to be controlled for strategic purposes.

       The military is not a democracy and it should have no influence on the media – any media.

       The only reason to read the Washington Post on geopolitical matters is to get a handle on Washington’s/the Pentagon’s external comms strategy.
     • gsays 6.1.2

       26 November 2019 at 7:30 am

       I agree about MSM peddling views.

       Peddling implies a buyer and seller. The key component is us being the willing buyer of these lies.

       We seem to have a stunning ability to practice willing ignorance. I notice it a lot here on TS. Be it Assange or Corbyn's 'anti-semitism'.

       The rise of social media has the potential to do us great good, but I think we lack the discipline and will to use the tool appropriately.
7. NZJester 7

   24 November 2019 at 4:38 am

   The Jesters in the courts of kings where not the dumb baffoons some think they where. They had to be very smart and use their wit to try and point their kings on the right path. They were advisers who tried to keep the rulers from going too far and had to be careful not to end up in jail or thier heads on a pike. They tried to get the kings to look after the commoners in their kingdoms.

   We have some amazing modern Jesters these days who talk truth to power with their TV shows and Movies.

   Sacha Baron Cohen, along with the likes of Stephen Colbert and others use comedy to place a mirror up to those in power to point out how stupid what they are doing is.
8. Bill – not our regular commenter and author 8

   24 November 2019 at 12:06 pm

   Well we have ADL's social media fusion centre partner here Pierre Omidyar in the form of Luminate, etc, funding all the research and lobbying around social media and hate speech / free speech, so it's pretty clear now who will be regulating our social media.

   I think you need to all stop for a minute and think whether you really want the ADL being the arbiter of what can and cannot be said online. Many people consider the ADL an extremest organization.

   [Please use a different handle as we already have a regular commenter and author here using “Bill” – Incognito]
   • Incognito 8.1

     24 November 2019 at 12:17 pm

     See my Moderation note @ 12:06 PM.
     • Billy 8.1.1

       24 November 2019 at 12:19 pm

       There, wacked a Y on there – Billy
       • Incognito 8.1.1.1

         24 November 2019 at 12:32 pm

         That’ll do for now thanks.

         Please don’t use bold font in square brackets. This has been the reserve for moderator comments.
   • Billy 8.2

     24 November 2019 at 12:25 pm

     For example, ActionStation uses the Action Network's digital infrastructure, which is also an information gathering and monitoring tool.

     behind the Action Network is the Corporate Action Network, which besides being closely affiliated now with Amnesty International, has a board that is made up of representatives who are on the board of the ADL NY:

     https://web.archive.org/web/20161231064350/http://corporateactionnetwork.org/our-team/

     AS as now known receives funding from the Omidyar Network as do many of the other lobbying and civil society groups who dominate the hate speech / free speech debate.

     And this is merely one example, as there are plenty more. It's an interesting story but no one will cover it, not yet. Maybe after its all been implemented, perhaps.
     • Billy 8.2.1

       24 November 2019 at 2:52 pm

       Why not the Hakka Association of Thailand?
   • SPC 8.3

     25 November 2019 at 7:33 am

     Luminate’s work in defence of (women) journalists is not a threat to free speech but a protection of it.

     https://luminategroup.com/posts/blog/tackling-cyber-harassment-and-empowering-female-journalists
     • Billy 8.3.1

       25 November 2019 at 7:44 am

       Tell that to ethnic and other minorities in the Ukraine and India where Luminate funded ethno-fascists.

       Luminate is a tool of aggressive US foreign policy and you need to take any claims to moral improvement with a mountain of salt. Luminate will fund, strategically, whatever befits its shareholders and IC partners.

       It befitted Luminate to fund ethno-fascists in the Ukraine and India because those countries border Russia and China. Let that sink in.

       It’s hilarious to see all these so-called leftists marching in the interests of US imperialism, especially the hammer & sickle waving tankies.
9. SPC 9

   25 November 2019 at 7:20 am

   Did he not really say that – social media allows white people to have free speech without this being moderated by Jewish media elites first? And that this should end? It's just a more humorous and more intellectual form of Clinton's deplorables

   De-platforming to a whole new level, nothing to be offended by if its censored first.
   • Billy 9.1

     25 November 2019 at 7:42 am

     If the ADL succeeds in becoming the arbiter of all speech, people will resent it greatly and focus that resentment. I don't think that's a good idea at all.

     Difficult area to discuss I know but to be frank I care less how things appear.
   • Lucy 9.2

     25 November 2019 at 8:38 am

     So you think asking for truth in the news is de-platforming? What is so wrong with asking for facts from a story? If the plain truth hurts your narrative then maybe there is a problem with your narrative. Your talk of Jewish media elites is weird – in which universe are Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, Jeff Bezos, Viscount Rothermere, the Barclay Brothers, Evgeny Levedev, Richard Desmond Jewish?
     • SPC 9.2.1

       25 November 2019 at 8:58 am

       Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.’1 Lord Chief Justice Hewart’s remarks, uttered nearly 100 years ago, are now heard throughout the common law world and beyond.

       The idea of every post being moderated before going public has nothing to do with truth but control over what can be said.
10. That_guy 10

    25 November 2019 at 10:46 am

    Great vid, and as he says, the very first time that SBC has appeared on video as his least popular character, SBC.

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