Austin , Texas ( CNN ) -- Baratunde Thurston says that , sometimes , comedy is no laughing matter . `` I met an Iranian revolutionary leader last year and he gave me a hug and thanked me for what we do , '' said Thurston , who counts the role of digital editor at news-satire site The Onion among his many comedic credits . Thurston was a keynote speaker Saturday at the South by Southwest Interactive festival here . In an ( appropriately ) interactive presentation that came complete with suggested Twitter hashtags , Thurston made a passionate case for humor as an important way to make sense of a sometimes confusing and overwhelming world . The near limitless power of the Web sometimes devolves into the cluttered `` Internet of crap , '' he said . At other times , he added , the fast-paced digital age can leave people feeling lost . `` With all this noise and confusion , we look to institutions for trust and they often come up short , '' he said. `` Government is trying to shut it down . Religion -- missing in action . Your parents are awkwardly texting you . And the media is busy talking about the state of the media . `` So , who 's left ? You 've got comics , willing to speak truth to the youth and beyond . '' Thurston highlighted satirical TV shows , websites and Web videos that have sprung up in places like Egypt , China and Nigeria , where more traditional media is kept under tight reins . He showed video from an `` Onion '' -like satire show from Iran , then photos he said were of Iranian authorities ripping people 's satellite dishes off of their roofs so they could n't watch it . `` You can almost measure the freedom of a society by its reaction to the satirists , '' he said . `` How weak is your government when this is what you have to resort to to get things done ? '' Thurston , author of the recently published satirical take on race , `` How to Be Black , '' began his presentation by telling stories about his family : His ex-slave great-grandfather who taught himself to read ; his grandmother who was the first black employee at the U.S. Supreme Court building ; and his mother , who , later on in the 1960s , protested outside that same building . He tied a point about technology and satire to that story , saying that humorists of today need to be intimately involved in the technology used to share their work . `` This is all about freedom , '' he said . `` This is about the new act of teaching yourself to read ... . We need this level of production and creation to make sense of the world . ''
SXSW keynote speaker : Humor `` speaks truth '' in a confusing digital world . Comedian Baratunde Thurston is digital editor at The Onion , author of `` How To Be Black '' Satire has been used in oppressed countries like China , Iran and Egypt . Thurston : You can measure a nation 's freedom by its reaction to satirists .