media
“Real Time” host Bill Maher on Friday criticized governments, medical institutions and social media platforms for trying to shut down “dissenting voices” to opinions on the coronavirus.
“As the years have gone on, I've learned that the opposition to many of these things was absolutely valid,” the HBO host told his guest, author and journalist Kara Swisher.
The conversation started when I brought up the case Marcy v. Missouri Supreme Court. The case stems from lawsuits brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, alleging government officials conspired with social media companies to censor online postings.
These allegedly censored posts included references to the coronavirus and Hunter Biden's laptop, among other things.
Swisher disputed Maher's point, noting that it was a confusing time for everyone.
Maher said earlier in the interview that he had “always believed that we should not shut down discussion of health care issues during the pandemic.”
“I have been an opponent on many of these issues,” he said, before noting that some valuable voices were silenced or blocked in the midst of the pandemic.
Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Facebook (now Meta), said last year: “In some ways, the establishment has obfuscated a set of facts and called for censorship, which in retrospect is debatable.'' , or it was true.”
“You'll never know completely,” Swisher told Marr on “Real Time.”
The moderator went on to give examples of where speaking on this topic is discouraged.
“Okay, we should have been able to debate whether it came from a lab or not, but we didn't. Something like that,” he said.
“Natural immunity. Is it better to go to the beach and breathe in the sunshine and fresh air than to sit at home, drink alcohol during the day and gain weight?”
“They never said obesity was the biggest factor,” Maher continued.
“They have a lot to answer for.”
Mr. Swisher replied: “They do that, but you're in the middle of an epidemic and a debate that people don't know about, so you…”
Mr. Maher interrupted her and said, “Yes, so we should be able to discuss it. This is medicine.”
“Yes, you should,” Swisher replied.
“This is different, but this moment was not. People make mistakes, and science says they make mistakes.”
Maher further elaborated on the background of the lawsuit.
“There were two doctors, Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, who were from Stanford and Harvard, and they said, 'We're shut down.' It won't necessarily be perfect, but there are ways to make it happen. ”
“And they are not extremists,” he said.
“I said school closures were going too far, and I think I've been proven right again. My question has always been, 'Why do you want to hear from your doctor more than my doctor, which I want to hear from? I was wondering if it was more important.”
“And social media companies were at odds with the government,” Maher said.
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