Facebook prepares for month of boycotts as advertisers pull out following black lives matter protests

Facebook is facing a huge advertiser boycott in July.

The Stop Hate for Profit campaign, set up after the death of George Floyd, asks companies to “to stand in solidarity with our most deeply held American values of freedom, equality and justice and not advertise on Facebook’s services in July”.

The campaign includes the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Color Of Change.

It argues that Facebook could do more to protect and support Black users, and “call out Holocaust denial as hate”, but says the company is “actively choosing not to do so”.

“Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence,” it also wrote.

Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s joined the campaign on Wednesday.

“We will pause all paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the US in support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign. Facebook, Inc. must take the clear and unequivocal actions to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate” the Ben & Jerry’s account tweeted.

It follows three outdoor clothing companies - The North Face, Patagonia and Rei – pulling their advertising from Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram.

A spokesperson for The North Face’s parent company, VF Corp, said it was considering other brands that would boycott the platform. The company owns Timberland and Vans.

Retailer Eileen Fisher, Eddie Bauer, clothing retailer Arc'teryx and independent movie distributor Magnolia Pictures have also halted advertising on the platform.

The news comes as Facebook takes a lenient approach to controversial posts on its platform, including those from president Donald Trump.

Infamously, Facebook has allowed messages from the president about the Black Lives Matter protestors that have been hidden from other social media sites such as Twitter after claims Mr Trump was “glorifying violence”.

Facebook employees have questioned whether the company is in an “abusive relationship” with the president. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he considered taking down Mr Trump’s posts, but “he couldn’t get there”.

Zuckerberg had previously criticised Twitter for being “arbiters of truth”.

The The Stop Hate for Profit campaign also criticised Facebook for its partnerships with far-right sources.

“They named Breitbart News a ‘trusted news source’ and made The Daily Caller a ‘fact checker’ despite both publications having records of working with known white nationalists,” the campaign wrote.

During the 2016 presidential election, Breitbart promoted conspiracy theories about Democratic Party figures being involved in a child sex ring.

It has also published numerous Islamophobic and anti-immigrant views, as well as a false story in 2017 claiming an illegal immigrant was arrested in connection with the Northern California wildfires.

The Daily Caller, meanwhile, has also been criticised for using its position as a fact-checker to suppress negative coverage of Mr Trump,

“It is clear that Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, are no longer simply negligent, but in fact, complacent in the spread of misinformation, despite the irreversible damage to our democracy. Such actions will upend the integrity of our elections as we head into 2020,” said NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson in a statement.

Employees at Facebook have staged walkouts over the company’s relationship with far-right persons, but Zuckerberg said such content would remain on the platform.

“We respect any brand’s decision, and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information. Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good,” said Carolyn Everson, VP of Facebook's Global Business Group.