Disney CEO Calls Social Media "Powerful Marketing Tool" to Fight Extremism



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Disney's general manager, Bob Iger, has criticized social media platforms for allowing hatred to spread, claiming that they allow the dissemination of false information and the spread of a "mischief." infamous ideology ".

Iger called social media something that Hitler "would have liked", according to Variety, while accepting a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a non-profit human rights organization named after a Holocaust survivor. He added that social media is "the most powerful marketing tool that an extremist can hope for". Social media is designed to amplify "our deepest fears," according to Iger, while "constantly validating our convictions."

"This creates a false feeling that everyone shares the same opinion," Iger said. "Social media allows evil to attack troubled minds and misguided souls, and we all know that social news feeds can contain more fiction than fact, spreading a vile ideology that is not harmful to people." has no place in a civil society that values ​​human life. "

His comments come at a time when Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google and Instagram are being criticized for allowing hateful ideologies to spread around the world and not doing enough to prevent dangerous conspiracy theorists from playing their algorithms. All the above-mentioned companies have admitted that they can do better and have introduced a series of policy and platform changes to try to combat the misuse of their products.

Iger is not the first CEO to recognize that more can be done to prevent hate from spreading online. Apple CEO Tim Cook called white supremacists as he accepted his "Courage Against Hate" award from the Anti-Defamation League in December. Cook told white supremacists and "dangerous conspiracy theorists" that they do not have a home on Apple's services. His comments came shortly after Apple removed Alex Jones's Infowars from the App Store. Iger sits on Apple's board of directors. Neither Apple nor Disney have social media platforms.

"We have a single message for those seeking to push hatred, division or violence: you have no place on our platforms," ​​Cook said.

Iger also used his time on stage to ask people to "give up hate in all its forms once again".

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