Sacha Baron Cohen used a metaphor involving a restaurant owner and neo-Nazis to tear into Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that the social media platform champions freedom of expression.
The British actor and comedian posted a scathing thread on Twitter in which he dubbed Zuckerberg’s speech at Georgetown University on Thursday “disingenuous” and reminded the billionaire that “he is not the government, but the owner of a private business and not subject to the 1st Amendment!”
Just heard #MarkZuckerberg’s disingenuous speech. He is not the government, but the owner of a private business and not subject to the 1st Amendment!
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) October 17, 2019
“If he owned a fancy restaurant and 4 neo-Nazis came goose-stepping into the dining room and were talking loudly about wanting to kill ‘Jewish scum,’ would he serve them an elegant eight-course meal? Or would tell them to get the f**k out of his restaurant? It’s the same thing,” added the “Borat” star.
If he owned a fancy restaurant and 4 neo-Nazis came goose-stepping into the dining room and were talking loudly about wanting to kill “Jewish scum”, would he serve them an elegant eight course meal? Or would tell them to get the f**k out of his restaurant? It’s the same thing.
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) October 17, 2019
“He has every legal right, indeed a moral duty, to tell them to get the f**k out of his restaurant,” concluded Cohen, who last year pranked numerous political figures with his satirical Showtime series “Who Is America?” and most recently portrayed real-life Mossad agent Eli Cohen in Netflix’s thriller “The Spy.”
He has every legal right, indeed a moral duty, to tell them to get the f**k out of his restaurant.
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) October 17, 2019
Zuckerberg’s address also drew criticism from Bernice King, the daughter of the late civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Zuckerberg in his speech alluded to the role of freedom of expression in the civil rights movement.
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“I’d like to help Facebook better understand the challenges #MLK faced from disinformation campaigns launched by politicians,” King replied, a reference to Facebook’s refusal to block ads featuring false statements from politicians. “These campaigns created an atmosphere for his assassination,” she added.
I heard #MarkZuckerberg's ‘free expression’ speech, in which he referenced my father. I'd like to help Facebook better understand the challenges #MLK faced from disinformation campaigns launched by politicians. These campaigns created an atmosphere for his assassination. pic.twitter.com/h97gvVmtSZ
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) October 17, 2019
Lee Moran is a Reporter, HuffPost. Twitter.
