Verizon Communications, a renowned US-based telecommunication firm, has reportedly announced that it would stop advertising on Facebook, the California based social media platform, in July. The company has taken this step to show its support to a new campaign that alleges that Facebook is not taking enough efforts towards stopping hate speech on its platform.
So far, Verizon is the biggest company to join this boycott campaign, which has already received support from dozens of other U.S. firms. This announcement was a significant shock to the social media platform’s efforts to reduce the impact of the growing revolt.
A Verizon representative stated that the company is stopping its advertising on Facebook until the platform comes up with an acceptable solution that ensures that the firm’s name does not show up besides hate speech posts.
U.S. civil rights groups are actively urging various companies to back the ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ initiative, which is protesting against the social network giant’s lax approach towards harassment, hate speech, and misinformation.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), in a letter to advertisers, stated that it discovered a Verizon advertisement on Facebook right beside a video posted by conspiracy group QAnon, featuring anti-Semitic rhetoric.
The ADL further added that ads are displayed next to hateful, conspiratorial, and divisive content, which is not something that most of the brands want.
Outdoor gear firms, The North Face, and Patagonia, as well as ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s have already stated that they would also stop advertising on Facebook. While speaking about the same, Facebook stated that is it closely working with civil rights groups.
Vice President of global business at Facebook, Carolyn Everson stated that the company respects any firm’s decision to pull out of the Facebook advertisement program and further stays focused on eliminating hate speech from the platform while offering crucial voting information to users.
Recently, the social media platform increased its outreach to advertisers as it continued to work on damage containment. However, the company has not assured any particular changes yet.
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