The growing movement, organised by civil rights and other advocacy groups under the rally cry “#StopHateForProfit”, was spurred by last month’s killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and has drawn support from companies including Mozilla, movie studio Magnolia Pictures, Rakuten Viber, and the Goodby Silverstein advertising agency.
“We have strict content policies in place and have zero tolerance when they are breached, we take action,” Verizon said in a statement.
“We’re pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable.”
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been slammed for choosing not to remove a post from Trump which threatened Black Lives Matter protesters that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” — a phrase with ties to a pro-segregation presidential candidate.
The groups behind the boycott, which include the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and the Anti-Defamation League, last week launched the “#StopHateforProfit” campaign with a newspaper ad.
They say Facebook amplifies white supremacists, allows posts that incite violence and contain political propaganda and misinformation, and doesn’t stop “bad actors using the platform to do harm”.
The advertising boycott extends to other Facebook-owned platforms such as Instagram.
Verizon noted it had previously stopped advertising on other popular online destinations, such as YouTube, when it felt its promotions might appear alongside content inconsistent with its values.
Facebook global business vice-president Carolyn Everson said the social media giant respected Verizon’s decision and remained committed to purging hateful content from its services.
“Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organisations are about how, together, we can be a force for good,” she said.
The boycott could theoretically pinch Facebook’s profits as the company makes most of its money from ads targeted at the interests of its more than 2 billion users.
Key messages from brands are listed below:
We will pause all paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the US in support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign. Facebook, Inc. must take the clear and unequivocal actions to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate. >>>https://t.co/7OpxtcbDGg pic.twitter.com/I989Uk9V3h
— Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) June 23, 2020
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
Patagonia is proud to join the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. We will pull all ads on Facebook and Instagram, effective immediately, through at least the end of July, pending meaningful action from the social media giant.
— Patagonia (@patagonia) June 21, 2020
We need a break @facebook. Effective immediately, we will be halting our global advertising with @Facebook & @Instagram until at least the end of July in support of the #stophateforprofit campaign & donating those dollars towards building more inclusive outdoors.
— Arc’teryx (@Arcteryx) June 23, 2020
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
.@Viber will remove all Facebook-related contact points from our app including Facebook Connect, Facebook SDK, and GIPHY, as well as cease all ad spending on Facebook.
Companies must take a clear stand on recent issues and draw the line.#StopHateForProfit
— Djamel Agaoua (@dagaoua) June 25, 2020
We will join #StopHate4Profit and stop posting on @Facebook for the month of July. We are taking this action to protest the platform’s irresponsible propagation of hate speech, racism, and misleading voter information. We encourage clients and our own people to join us.
— Goodby Silverstein (@GSP) June 24, 2020