TOPLINE
Despite recent attempts at a response from Facebook, an advertising boycott called for by top civil rights groups continues to gather momentum with over 500 marketers—most recently joined by LEGO, Dunkin Donuts and Target—announcing they will not work with the tech giant until “meaningful action” is taken to address misinformation and hate speech.
The Facebook logo is seen on a portable mobile device in this photo illustration on January 22, ... [+]
KEY FACTS
Civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, launched the #StopHateForProfit campaign on June 17, pressuring large companies to halt advertising with a social media site they say doesn’t stop “bad actors using the platform to do harm” at least through the month of July.
North Face was the first big brand to join the boycott on July 19—which has since spread to include Facebook-owned Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat for some, with a number of companies saying they won’t spend with social media through the rest of the year or longer until tangible changes are made to address the campaign’s concerns.
Over 100 companies, including LEGO Group, Dunkin Donuts, PopSockets and Consumer Reports, joined the boycott on Wednesday; following a slew of major announcements this week from Target, Best Buy, Pfizer, Ford, Adidas, Clorox, Chobani and more that they would join an unfriending list of over 500 brands that collectively spend hundreds of millions of dollars with Facebook every year.
As the list continues to grow, Facebook has tried to mitigate damage, announcing that it will begin labeling posts from politicians that violate its policies but are still newsworthy, banning hundreds of accounts and groups related to the far-right “boogaloo” movement, and sending an open letter Wednesday saying the social media platform does “not profit from hate”; despite these actions, public favor continues to turn against Facebook, with a new survey predicting that one-third of top advertisers will soon join the social media boycott.
“Billions of people use Facebook and Instagram because they have good experiences—they don't want to see hateful content, our advertisers don't want to see it, and we don't want to see it," wrote Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg, who argued that Facebook removes hate speech faster than YouTube and Twitter, explaining: “There is no incentive for us to do anything but remove it.”
Over the past few days, the likes of Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Honda, Hershey’s, Verizon, Ben & Jerry’s, Mars, HP, Levi Strauss, Lululemon, Birchbox and Unilever, which owns brands like Dove Soap and Lipton Tea, have also joined the boycott, and the movement has even spread outside of the U.S. to include several international companies, such as German automaker Volkswagen, Honda Europe, Ford Europe, British-based oil group BP, French-owned EDF Energy and U.K. drinks brand Britvic.
CNN confirmed Monday that Microsoft quietly suspended its Facebook and Instagram advertising in May, weeks ahead of the #StopHateForProfit launch, and may be the biggest advertiser yet to quit Facebook this year (Microsoft spent more than $115 million on Facebook ads in 2019, according to advertising analytics company Pathmatics), while Pepsi also backed away this week without a large announcement and Procter & Gamble Co., considered an advertising trendsetter, said it is reviewing all the platforms it advertises on for objectionable content.
Despite a share drop of 8% last Friday, Wall Street analysts predict that Facebook’s revenue hit will be “minimal,” ranging from between 1% and 5%.
Key Quote
“Allowing Facebook to get cover in a group will only end up hurting smaller companies like Snap and Twitter, both of which have tried to deal with this problem more actively,” wrote Recode co-founder Kara Swisher in a New York Times letter to Mark Zuckerberg Tuesday, who has described Facebook’s reactions as “too little, too late.” “It’s not fair to lump them in with you; they have fewer resources to withstand a marketing drought. Since Facebook and Google are the overwhelmingly dominant players in the game of digital advertising, the problem of hate and misinformation flowing on social media is yours to own.”
BIG Number
Facebook generated $69.7 billion from advertising last year, trailing Google as the second-largest digital marketer.
Key Background
Facebook has received criticism from civil rights leaders, employees and more for its handling of misinformation, intensified by weeks of anti-racism protests across the world. Calls for change began after Facebook refused to fact check a series of Trump’s tweets, including one from early on in the George Floyd protests that warned “looting” would lead to “shooting,” with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg making clear his stance that social media companies should not be “arbiters of truth.” The #StopHateForProfit campaign website accuses Facebook of facilitating the encouragement of violence, voter suppression and the spread of fake news. “Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence,” the website reads.
Further Reading
“In Reversal, Zuckerberg Says Facebook Will Label Newsworthy Posts That Violate Its Rules” (Forbes)
“The Free Speech Face-Off Between Facebook And Twitter: Are Warnings Justified?” (Forbes)
“Google Begins Fact-Checking Images Amid Misinformation Crackdown” (Forbes)
“Facebook’s Revenue Hit From Ad Boycott Will Be ‘Minimal,’ Wall Street Firms Say” (Forbes)
