Cohen truly is a warrior against intolerance. (Image via video still)

For the first time ever, Sacha Baron Cohen gave a speech as himself, and it was to accept the ADL International Leadership Award.

Today, around the world, demagogues appeal to our worst instincts. Conspiracy theories once confined to the fringe are going mainstream. It's as if the age of reason, the era of evidential argument is ending, and now knowledge is increasingly delegitimized and scientific consensus is dismissed. Democracy, which depends on shared truths, is in retreat and autocracy, which depends on shared lies, is on the march ...

... What do all these dangerous trends have in common? ... All this hate and violence is being facilitated by a handful of Internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history ... Facebook, YouTube and Google, Twitter and others, they reach billions of people.

The rest of his speech is must-listen ...