By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: Bernie Sanders, a United States (US) Senator has alleged an emerging threat to democracy, noting how world richest men owning social and mainstream media companies control the global narrative, deciding what people must see, hear and read.

In an X post, the Senator cited a comment made by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, blasting the Cable News Network (CNN) for criticizing the manner in which “President Donald Trump is handling” the war in Iran.

“It’s not just that Oligarchs control our economy. It’s not just that they control our political system. Increasingly, they control what we see, hear and read. Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, owns X. Larry Page and Serge Brin -the second- and third richest men-control YouTube. Jeff Bezos owns Twitch. Mark Zuckerberg owns Facebook and Instagram and Larry Ellison will soon control TikTok. Almost all of them sat right behind Donald Trump at his inauguration. All of them bankrolled him. All of them are getting richer by the day. But it’s not just social media. Ellison and his son David, with the help of Trump, will soon control CNN- not to mention CBS, HBO, MTV, Miramax, BET, Warner  Brothers and many more. In fact, just this morning, after CNN published reporting on the President’s mishandling of the war in Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” the Senator wrote on X.

Bernie Sanders is a prominent American politician serving as the junior US Senator for Vermont since 2007, and is the longest-serving independent in congressional history.