Brave Browser Chief Courts Social Media Rage with COVID-19 Comments
The mastermind of the crypto-friendly Brave Browser, Brave (BAT) CEO Brendan Eich, has waded into a fresh controversy that has ignited social media once again – this time taking aim at the United States’ top epidemiologist.
Brave has enjoyed a relatively strong year as crypto has boomed in 2020, recently launching a privacy-boosting news reader. Its browser features functions including crypto wallets and widgets that allow users to earn and store crypto. And in summer, the firm announced a partnership deal with Japan’s market-leading crypto exchange, bitFlyer.
But Eich, who created the Firefox browser and is credited with creating JavaScript, has taken to Twitter to share a range of seemingly far-fetched claims about the American response to the coronavirus pandemic, even going as far as to opine earlier this month that Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is a “liar.”
Commenters claimed that Eich was “beclowning” himself with remarks of this sort, also questioning the sources of his information.
This is not the first time Eich’s personal views have come under the public spotlight. In 2014, the New York Times reported, he was ousted from his role as the head of Firefox owner Mozilla after donating to a group that lobbies against same-sex marriage.
However, it appears that not all Brave users are united in their disdain for Eich’s COVID-19-related views.
On Reddit, one poster wrote,
“As a daily Brave user, I fully support Mr. Eich’s ability to say whatever he damn pleases on Twitter. That is all.”
But another disagreed, replying: “He can do what he wants but other people can choose to not work with his company based on what he does.”
Eich’s recent tweets have taken aim at American lockdowns, mask-wearing and the science being used to formulate coronavirus-mitigating policies.
Another Redditor wrote,
“What bothers me is the CEO spending way too much time arguing on Twitter about how scientists are wrong about COVID-19. Who is he trying to convince? It’s not like anyone gives a flying f*** about his opinion on it. It’s not his field, and he’s just straight up wasting time losing a dumbshit argument.”
Another chimed in that Eich’s inability to “keep his right-wing opinions to himself” had already cost the CEO his post at Mozilla and was on course to do the “same thing at the helm of Brave.”
Some Redditors claimed they would switch to rival browsers until Eich was removed from Brave.
But one suggested that an alternative option could prove fruitful, writing,
“I solve problems like this by ignoring Twitter.”
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