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Facebook faces advertiser revolt over failure to address hate speech
The North Face, REI and other brands pause advertising on the platform in ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ campaignSeveral companies have suspended advertising on Facebook over the company’s failure to address hate speech on the platform.
The outdoor apparel and product retailers the North Face, REI, and Patagonia have pledged not to pay for advertising on Facebook platforms as part of the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign, launched Wednesday by advocacy groups including the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and the Color Of Change. The freelance job listing site Upwork and the internet company Mozilla have also joined the pledge.
The movement asks advertisers to pressure the tech giant to adopt stricter policies against racist and hateful content on its platforms by pausing all spending on advertising with the company for the month of July.
Facebook makes $70bn in annual advertising revenue while “amplifying the messages of white supremacists” and “permitting incitement to violence”, according to the campaign.
“We have long seen how Facebook has allowed some of the worst elements of society into our homes and our lives,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, in a statement. “Our organizations have tried individually and collectively to push Facebook to make their platforms safer, but they have repeatedly failed to take meaningful action. We hope this campaign finally shows Facebook how much their users and their advertisers want them to make serious changes for the better.”
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The campaign cites a number of examples to argue Facebook has failed to address misinformation and hate speech: it made Breitbart News a “trusted news source” despite its history of working with white nationalists and neo-Nazis, was accused of allowing housing discrimination against communities of color, and failed to remove Holocaust denial posts.
Facebook is also the social media platform where the most Americans – 55% – reported experiencing hate and harassment, according to a 2019 ADL survey of Americans using the services.
The company has faced increased pressure to address hate speech and misinformation in recent months as its competitor Twitter began to flag false and incendiary statements from Donald Trump. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has refused to rein in the American president or flag his posts despite the urging of more than 100 scientists, coordinated walkouts of employees protesting the decision, and criticisms from civil rights leaders.