24th November 2019

Don’t know much about comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, but something he said yesterday struck a chord.  In general, I’ve been very grateful for social media, giving me access to free marketing and literary connections. However, since Brexit raised its ugly head, dividing the nation like nothing before, social platforms have given voice to increasingly rancorous and upsetting comments, even from within families. FB and twitter are awash with the illiterati, spouting venom at those on the other side of the fence. But it was Cohen who suggested that FB would run paid political ads even if outright lies, though denied by FB. Cohen said that, if social media had existed in the ‘30s, Hitler could have published antisemitic FB ads, no doubt drawing global applause. My worry today is that all these platforms push ignorant, racist opinions to an audience of millions, giving voice to growing extremism from the right and the left. Never have I felt so fearful.