Sacha Baron Cohen announced on Twitter that he would be freezing his Instagram account in an ongoing campaign to hold social media companies accountable for hate speech.
Baron Cohen has been vocally critical of Facebook’s handling of hate speech, and in his keynote address at the Anti-Defamation League’s 2019 summit, he declared Facebook and a handful of other internet companies to be “The greatest propaganda machine in history.” Facebook owns Instagram.
The comedian and actor, whose Instagram account has over half a million followers, is part of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which demands that Facebook addresses racism, hate, and disinformation on its platforms.
The campaign began a “week of action” led by nine civil rights and advocacy organizations including the Anti-Defamation League, which awarded Baron Cohen the ADL International Leadership Award in 2019. It includes a 24-hour “Instagram freeze” on 16 September, in an attempt to draw attention to what the organization claims are practices undermining democracy.
