The North Face pulls ads from Facebook
The North Face on Friday became the highest-profile company to join an advertising boycott against Facebook.
The outdoor recreation company tweeted that it would join the campaign launched earlier in the week by several civil rights organizations.
We’re in. We’re Out @Facebook #StopHateForProfit
Learn more: https://t.co/uAT7u7mjBG https://t.co/jVxTIH5ThQ
— The North Face (@thenorthface) June 19, 2020
The Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Color Of Change, Free Press and Common Sense called on companies to stop advertising on Facebook for the month of July to protest what they call a failure by the platform to regulate hateful content.
The North Face said in a statement that it would suspend advertising on the platform immediately.
“Effective June 19th, The North Face is halting all activity and U.S. paid advertising with Facebook until stricter policies are put in place to stop racist, violent or hateful content and misinformation from circulating on the platform,” a spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.
“We know that for too long harmful, racist rhetoric and misinformation has made the world unequal and unsafe, and we stand with the NAACP and the other organizations who are working to #StopHateforProfit.”
The campaign comes amid rising scrutiny of Facebook’s largely hands-off approach to political speech.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been under internal and external pressure to take action against President Trump‘s posts in particular, especially ones seen as glorifying violence. Twitter and other social media platforms have decided to flag those posts.
Several smaller companies in recent weeks have already pulled back on Facebook advertising, which generates roughly 98 percent of the company’s revenue.
“We deeply respect any brand’s decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information,” Carolyn Everson, vice president of Facebook’s Global Business group, said in statement to The Hill. “Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.”
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