Comedian, actor, and television host Bill Maher lashed out against Big Tech in the Friday episode of his show “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Maher criticized Facebook and Google for allegedly censoring posts and search results related to the COVID-19 Wuhan lab-leak theory.
“I find this outrageous. Facebook banned any post for four months about COVID coming from a lab,” the comedian began, adding, “Now, even the Biden administration is looking into it.” (RELATED: Dr. Fauci Is In An All Out Media Blitz To Rescue His Image)
WATCH:
“Outrageous.” @BillMaher railed against Facebook and Google for banning and suppressing content about lab leak. “You were wrong, Google and Facebook….The CDC’s been wrong about a lot shit, this is outrageous that I can’t look this information up.” #RealTime pic.twitter.com/28dwaQGz9W
— Brent Baker (@BrentHBaker) June 26, 2021
Facebook revised its ban on such posts in late May, stating, “In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made or manufactured from our apps.”
The ban, put into effect Apr. 16, 2020, deemed allegations of lab leak or deliberate development of the COVID-19 as misinformation alongside claims of “vaccines are not effective at preventing the disease they are meant to protect against,” “it’s safer to get the disease than to get the vaccine,” and, “vaccines are toxic, dangerous, or cause autism.”
The lab leak theory, once considered a fringe conspiracy theory, entered public discourse in 2021 after several legacy outlets such as New York Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post published reports suggesting the theory might have considerable credibility.
Facebook was not the only big tech giant Maher criticized. Maher slammed Google over allegations of manipulating search results to prefer what the company considered “authoritative” sources.
“Well you were wrong, Google and Facebook, we don’t know. The reason why we want you is because we are checking on this shit,” Maher said, proceeding to criticize the “authoritative” sources, saying the “CDC has been wrong about a lot of sh*t” and the “WHO has been very corrupt.”
He then criticized YouTube for allegedly censoring information related to ivermectin saying, “Ivermectin is not a registered Republican. It’s a drug!”