Facebook ad boycott campaign to go global
Pressure on Facebook is gathering momentum.
Organisers of an advertising boycott campaign say they are preparing to go global.
They want Facebook to do more to remove hate speech from its platform.
The "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign will begin calling on major companies in Europe to join in.
More than 160 companies have thrown their weight behind it so far.
They include Verizon and Unilever.
Both have signed up to stop buying ads on the world’s largest social media platform for July.
There are reports that Pepsi is also joining the ban.
Free Press and Common Sense, along with U.S. civil rights groups Color of Change and the Anti-Defamation League, launched the campaign following the death of George Floyd.
The outrage over his death has led to an unprecedented reaction from corporations around the world.
Responding to demands for more action, Facebook on Sunday (June 28) acknowledged it has more work to do.
It says it's teaming up with civil rights groups to develop more tools to fight hate speech.
And CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday (June 26) the company is changing.
"We want to do more here to prohibit the kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric that has been used to sow discord. So today we're adopting some new policies to prohibit a wider category of hateful content in ads."
Expanding the campaign outside the U.S. will take a bigger slice off of Facebook’s advertising revenue, but is not likely have major financial impact.
The negative publicity though has hurt its reputation and stock.
Campaigners say the renewed push to get more companies to join demonstrates the level of frustration felt by social justice groups and the companies that support them.
