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Facebook Advertisers Boycott, Demand Changes

Michelle Quinn

   SAN FRANCISCO - More than 600 companies say they won't advertise on
   Facebook and its sister firm, Instagram, in July, as part of a campaign
   called Stop Hate for Profit.

   The goal?

   Force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to address his firm's negative
   effects on society, says Jim Steyer, chief executive and founder of
   Common Sense Media, a children's media education non-profit, and one of
   the boycott's backers.

   "They are amplifying hate speech, racist messages, white supremacy
   messages, all sorts of misinformation and dishonest political
   advertising," said Steyer. "So, we asked the major advertisers of
   America to pause their advertising on the platform for at least a
   month."

   Just weeks ago, Steyer joined with organizations such as the
   Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and Color of Change to [1]call for
   the boycott. Hundreds responded, including retailers such as North Face
   and consumer goods giant Unilever.

   A list of demands

   The[2] boycott's demands include strengthening Facebook's controls of
   hate speech and cracking down on misinformation campaigns, particularly
   when it comes to voting.

   The campaign comes as people around the world are demanding that
   institutions change, including companies from each other, said Kellie
   McElhaney, founder of the Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership at
   the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

   "The power differentials are really being challenged right now," she
   said. "There are some organizations, some companies, some voices that
   have gotten too much power and have misused and abuse their power."

   She noted companies such as Coca-Cola and Starbucks, which have been
   boycotted in the past, are pausing their advertising on Facebook in the
   U.S.

   Yael Eisenstat is now visiting fellow with the Cornell Tech Digital
   Life Initiative. She used to head Facebook's elections integrity team
   for political advertising.

   "It is within their interests to make small changes," she said. "They
   don't want to be blamed for somebody using their platform to manipulate
   people in an election. But tinkering around the margins of little
   changes to ensure that doesn't happen is very different from actually
   taking a step back and saying, 'Is it possible that the core business
   we built is actually not the best thing for society?'"

   Industry analysts say that Facebook --which made [3]$70 billion in
   sales last year,mostly in advertising --will likely not feel a pinch to
   its bottom line as a result of the boycott. That is because just three
   of its top 25 advertisers are participating in the campaign and the
   company relies on millions of smaller advertisers for its revenue.

   Still, the effort is getting attention and raising questions -- again
   -- about what can be done to manage Facebook.

References

   1. https://www.stophateforprofit.org/
   2. https://www.stophateforprofit.org/productrecommendations
   3. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-advertiser-boycott-gaining-steam-2020-6