The Unilever group is investing several million dollars to advertise its products such as food and cosmetics on Facebook. Because Facebook does too little against hatred and agitation on its platform, that's the end. The advertising boycott sends the Facebook share down.
Facebook is under increasing pressure due to its controversial handling of racist, inflammatory and manipulative content. The consumer goods giant Unilever announced that by the end of the year there would no longer be any US advertising on the online network and its subsidiary Instagram. This means that an ad boycott against the platform that started last week is gaining significant influx.
Unilever had already spent nearly $ 12 million on social media advertising this year. Facebook and Twitter came under severe pressure on the stock exchange after the announcement by the consumer goods company.
Unilever also has a responsibility to Twitter – there should also be no advertising here for the time being. The Dutch-British group justified its decision with the responsibility of companies in dealing with controversial contributions online – especially in view of the tense political atmosphere in the USA. Facebook and Twitter would have to do more, especially when it comes to hate comments and disparate posts during the US election campaign.
Unilever does not intend to cut its US advertising budget, however, and the expenses are now to be distributed to other companies. Facebook said in a statement that it would invest billions of dollars annually in the security of its community. The group works continuously with external experts to review and update its policies. Thanks to this commitment, almost 90 percent of the hate comments were found before users drew their attention. "We know we have more to do," said a company spokesman. Facebook will therefore develop further instruments, technologies and guidelines.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg also announced in a livestream that his company would take more action against hate messages and delete false reports prior to the US presidential election in November. In addition, standards for advertising would be raised to block derogatory and hateful messages about ethnicity, religion or sexual preferences. "I stand against hate and everything that incites violence," said Zuckerberg.
US civil rights organizations had called on companies to boycott Facebook last week. This is how the group is to be hit at a sensitive point – Facebook generates almost all of its sales with advertising revenue. The US wave of protests against racism and police violence has again flared up criticism of Facebook for carelessly handling controversial posts. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made a significant contribution to this, refusing to take action against controversial statements by US President Donald Trump. There was even criticism from our own employees.
Previously, several other companies, including the US mobile communications giant Verizon and the well-known outdoor brands The North Face and Patagonia, had joined the #StopHateForProfit initiative. Unilever – whose ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's was also there – is now going one step further – because the campaign was initially only about an advertising boycott in July.
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