Some major brands are boycotting Facebook in support of a campaign called #StopHateForProfit that calls for companies to pause ad spending on the social media platform until it reigns in disinformation and hate content. Facebook has long been under scrutiny for not properly managing the safety and appropriateness of ads and information shared on the platform.
“We already restrict certain types of content in ads that we allow in regular posts, but we want to do more to prohibit the kind of divisive and inflammatory language that has been used to sow discord,” the chief executive of Facebook Mark Zuckberg said. “So today we’re prohibiting a wider category of hateful content in ads.”
The development resulted in a $56 billion drop in market value on Friday, according to Bloomberg. The stock plummeted 10.85 percent to $212.51, nearly a $26 loss on the stock in the past week.
Zuckerberg also experienced a decrease in his net worth. The social media guru took a $7.2 billion hit to his $80-plus billion net worth.
The damage could be attributed to major brands that heavily rely on advertising, such as Coca-Cola and Unilever, pulling out of Facebook to boycott the platform.
“We have decided that starting now through at least the end of the year, we will not run brand advertising in social media newsfeed platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S.,” said a statement from Unilever. “Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society.”
The company Sleeping Giants released a statement on Twitter.
“Remember that the #StopHateForProfit campaign is not about damaging Facebook’s bottom line, it’s about a broader reckoning around the platform’s lack of moderation of hate and disinformation,” the Sleeping Giants post said. “Advertisers don’t want to sponsor violent, bigoted content or lies.”
The boycott includes brands Honda, Verizon, Ben & Jerry’s, Levi’s, Lululemon, Sleeping Giants, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League.
“There is no newsworthiness exemption to content that incites violence or suppresses voting,” Zuckerberg said. “Even if a politician or government official says it, if we determine that content may lead to violence or deprive people of their right to vote, we will take that content down.”
Facebook is working to take measures to tame the release of disinformation and harmful content. Voter suppression, racism, defamatory provocation and politically motivated content are some of the misuse of ads that have bombarded Facebook. Facebook had a total of 8 million advertisers before the boycott.
