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‘Hitler would have loved social media,’ says Disney CEO

At Wiesenthal Center dinner, Bob Iger calls on US politicians to drop hate, which he says is ‘dragging us toward an abyss’

By AFP 12 April 2019, 6:42 am

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Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bob Iger and Rabbi Marvin Hier attend Simon Wiesenthal Center's 2019 National Tribute Dinner at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 10, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California (Presley Ann/Getty Images/AFP)

Disney CEO Bob Iger on Thursday called upon US politicians to reject hate in the run up to the 2020 election — and claimed that Adolf Hitler would have “loved social media” as a tool to spread extremist propaganda.

“Hate and anger are dragging us toward an abyss,” he said at a dinner organized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization. “Our politics, in particular, are now dominated by contempt.”

“Hitler would have loved social media,” he added. “It’s the most powerful marketing tool an extremist could ever hope for.”

“At its worst, social media allows evil to prey on troubled minds and lost souls,” he said.

With a fierce campaign for the 2020 US presidential election expected in the coming months, Iger also stressed that it is “possible to argue policy without attacking people.”