So instead of trying to see that he had a point; you try to rip it to shreds.

Is the stranger also racist ? I know you are a Hillary apologist who is in love with Hillary who will smear Bernie and anyone you can to get her name in the paper.

Absolutely disgusting because Sasha had a damn good point we are letting people who normally talk to a small amount of people who view their ideas and making it larger by giving them a platform where not only they can voice their opinions they know their opinions will be defended. So by trying to attack Sasha you are trying to say that Facebook acting like 4chan or 8chan is cool and kosher.

Never said this before to you Stranger but ,,!!,, you and your propaganda I am sick of it.

News Should not be propaganda and that is what you sell us. ,,!!,, you

3 You can get that elsewhere, just fly East! See you later! Not missing you yet!

Is this more right wing trolling?

Did you miss the fact that Trump got into power (partly) because of Facebook? Did you misread the part you quoted ("elected representatives... have at least some say") and thought he said "have total control"? Can you not distinguish between comedy and satire and serious attempts to subvert democratic elections or outright lies posing as political campaign speech?

Cheeeerist.

Some excellent points here.

Noteworthy I think that Cohen is a Brit and I have noticed that Brits, Europeans in general, tend to have a fairly wobbly commitment to freedom of speech. Of course so do our new breed of homegrown leftist authoritarians.

It is far more troubling that people think it is perfectly acceptable to be forcing social media corporations to censor content they find disagreeable than it is to be providing a means for disseminating such content to begin with. What is a problem is the fact that there are too few platforms responsible for too much of the discourse. Breaking these gargantuan entities up, or at least actually enforcing anti-trust laws and aggressively opposing further mergers and acquisitions, now these would be very wise public policy moves.

Breakup the greedy, amoral Silicon Six:

Google
Reddit
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter

@9 I think it needs to go beyond that. The internet itself is the problem. Breaking up those services would only result in others that would take their place.

No, we need the internet itself to be regulated out of existence as it currently stands.

@10 Yeah dude. Maybe you belong in North Korea? I hear they have a well regulated internet there.

@8 BINGO

This, from the NYT:
"I Invented the World Wide Web. Here’s How We Can Fix It.

By Tim Berners-Lee Mr. Berners-Lee is a co-founder of the World Wide Web Foundation.

"I wanted the web to serve humanity. It’s not too late to live up to that promise.

Communities are being ripped apart as prejudice, hate and disinformation are peddled online. Scammers use the web to steal identities, stalkers use it to harass and intimidate their victims, and bad actors subvert democracy using clever digital tactics.

The use of targeted political ads in the United States’ 2020 presidential campaign and in elections elsewhere threatens once again to undermine voters’ understanding and choices.

We’re at a tipping point. How we respond to this abuse will determine whether the web lives up to its potential as a global force for good or leads us into a digital dystopia."

And one quick comment from the article:

"Mr. Berners-Lee succeeded in his ambition. People are using the Internet (I hesitate to use the term 'Web' anymore) to do what they've been doing for countless millennia: harassing, exploiting and even enslaving others.

They're using it to form tribes, just as our ancestors did, and they're making war on other tribes through it.

They're using it for self-aggrandizement, just as Kings, Khans, Tsars, Caesars and yes, Presidents did by other means.

This isn't some freakish occurrence. It's what we are as a species, amplified."
--Daedalus, Rochester NY, Nov. 25

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/opinion/world-wide-web.html

sorry; outta time!

@11 Another Brit.

Putin a democratically elected leader? LOL, good one...

@9 Am I missing something? You mentioned the amoral Silicon Six but only listed five companies.

Man who makes a living mocking other people's values, nationalities and ethnicities wants speech controlled so that other people can not do so, and so government/media groups can force their viewpoints on the public without fear of dissent or mockery.

Oy vey, Mr. Cohen.

@ 16,

If you get my drift
five is all you need
to illustrate their GRIFT.

Most people have no will power. I dumped Facebook and Instagrandma years ago. If people could dump "social networks" they would have no power. But everyone is addicted to the perfect drug, just try and go through the process of canceling facebook or Instagram. Then you will realize how addicted you are.
If you don't give these platforms power they won't have it. Splitting them up is like cutting the head of a Hydra.
It is a Herculean task to dump these platforms but once done and understood through clear education why it can be a good thing then these companies will, like I said have no power.

It seems like - based on the way you quoted Cohen in this piece - that he was talking about "the fate of the world" - not "what's allowed on the internet" - which seems to somewhat invalidate your entire response.

-B-,
You have an excellent point. I am no longer on FB and I've never had an Instagram nor a Twitter account. I simply don't need them. Indeed, people need to find the willpower to control _ or _ will control them. I have no concerns over Zuckerberg or Facebook. They simply don't matter to me.

Katie,
Another insightful piece. I'm not a fan of Cohen's humor. I've never viewed "Borat" or "Bruno"(?). Neither film interested me. My sister viewed the former and didn't like it at all. I read about the scene in "Borat" that you referenced. Hmm? That just doesn't seem funny. Definitely recall the ADL calling Cohen out on that. Seems strange that the same organization now awards him.

Finally @ 3 & 17, you guys are pretty funny.