“Real Time” host Bill Maher on Friday criticized governments, medical institutions and social media platforms for blocking “dissent” 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.
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“Real Time” host Bill Maher recently accused the government and social media companies of colluding to shut down dissent about the coronavirus. (HBO)
These are reportedly The 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’ve 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.”
“I’m not completely sure,” Swisher told Marr on “Real Time.”
The moderator went on to give examples of where speaking on this topic is discouraged.
“Okay, we could have debated 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?”
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Maher pointed to how authorities censored COVID-19 information that later turned out to be accurate. ((AP Photo/Mary Altafer, File))
“They never said obesity was the biggest factor,” Maher continued. “They have a lot to answer for.”
Swisher said, “They do, but you’re in the middle of an epidemic and an argument that people don’t know about. So you’re going to…”
Mr. Maher interrupted her and said, “Yes, so we should be able to discuss it. This is medicine.”
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“Yes, you should,” Swisher replied. “This is not the case — this moment was not the case — 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. We’re not necessarily shut down completely, but how do we do that? Yes, there is.”
“And they are not extremists,” he said. “They said school closures were going too far, and I think they’ve been proven right again. My question has always been, ‘Why do you want to hear from your doctors rather than the doctors who want to hear from me? Is that more important?’”
“And social media companies were at odds with the government,” Maher said.
