As social and political fissures deepen in the US, with similar divisions seen around the world, attention to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook and their role in the dissemination of content meant to sow hate and rancor towards targeted groups has grown. What you could once dismiss as the actions of an isolated group of users, it has become clear now those seeking to reinforce hateful ideas and propagate misinformation to further their own goals have found success on social media.
A new campaign aimed at impacting Facebookâs advertising revenue organized by civil rights groups such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the NAACP calls for boycotts of the social medias platform until it makes substantive changes as to how it handles posts containing hate speech, racially-motivated conspiracy theories (such as Holocaust denial), Black voter suppression, and inadequately protecting users from online threats. According to a full-page ad in the LA Times by the coalition, 99% of Facebookâs revenue, some $70 billion, comes from paid advertising.
Dubbed âStop Hate for Profit,â the campaign now has friends in high places. Rivals The North Face and Patagonia have joined the campaign, suspending their Facebook and Instagram advertising through at least July, along with retailer REI and freelance website Upwork. Influential digital advertising agency 360i is also advising clients to participate in the boycott, joining Elijah Harris, a senior vice president at IPG Mediabrands, in a call to rethink the relationship between brands and the social media platform, given Facebookâs lax attitude towards incendiary and hate-motived content.
