An ad boycott against Facebook has begun, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly set to chat with its organizers.
Hundreds of companies, including Ford and Coca-Cola, are pulling ads from Facebook in July following the launch of the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign demanding that Facebook change the way it handles hate speech on its platform. Ahead of the boycott officially beginning on Wednesday, Reuters reported that Zuckerberg has agreed to meet with its organizers, which include the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP.
In private calls this week, though, Facebook executives reportedly left advertisers frustrated by offering "no new details" to address their concerns and just pointing back to recent statements, Reuters also reports, with one ad agency executive saying, "It’s simply not moving." Civil rights leaders previously released a scathing statement after meeting with Zuckerberg, condemning his "incomprehensible" explanations for leaving inflammatory posts by President Trump up.
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On Wednesday, Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs and communications, wrote an open letter in which he addressed the boycott and said, "I want to be unambiguous: Facebook does not profit from hate." He also doubled down on the company's decision not to remove Trump's posts that Twitter flagged for glorifying violence, saying the "only way to hold the powerful to account is ultimately through the ballot box."
On Tuesday, BuzzFeed News reported that Facebook has profited from ads connected to "Boogaloo" extremists promoting another civil war. BuzzFeed wrote, "as right-wing extremists have used the company’s tools to organize, the world's largest social network has also profited from ads pushing for white supremacy." Facebook on Wednesday said it's removing hundreds of "Boogaloo" groups, and last week it announced a series of new policies, including labels for newsworthy posts that violate its rules.
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