Starbucks, Pepsi and many more corporations are withdrawing their Facebook ads, as the companies are joining ranks to force Facebook to change its policy regarding regulations of hate speeches in the social media platform.
The most notable among these corporations is Starbucks, long committed to social changes in values. The conglomerate will cease all advertising from Facebook, in an official statement made on Sunday. The statement said that the company will ‘have discussions internally and with media partners and civil rights to stop the spread of hate speech’ in its future actions. The stopping of advertisements does not mean they will stop ads on YouTube, owned by Google. The company will keep on posting, but without payment to the platform. Also, they have said they are not partaking in the ‘Stop Hate For Profit’ campaign.
Meanwhile, soft drink maker Pepsi is reportedly pulling ads from Facebook. The halt on advertising will run through July and August. Sources described the move as a ‘global boycott’ on placing Facebook ads, the report said. PepsiCo did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
More than 160 companies, including Verizon Communications and Unilever Plc, signed on to stop buying ads on Facebook Inc, the world’s largest social media platform.
Facebook has come under massive pressure from advertisers to crack down on hate speech that is spread on its platform.
After several large companies announced last week that they were pulling ads from Facebook, the tech giant’s shares plunged on Wall Street. Shares in the platform went crashing 8.3 per cent to $216.08 by the closing bell Friday – its lowest in three months.
The steep drop on Friday represents a loss of a staggering $56billion in the company’s worth.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised action on hate speech after his company put a warning label on a Republican National Committee (RNC) video.
But it doesn’t appear to satisfy the critics who say Facebook has profited handsomely by allowing unfettered speech on its site. The company’s stock dip on Friday dealt a hefty $7.2billion blow to Zuckerberg’s personal fortune, pushing him down from third to fourth place on Bloomberg Billionaires Index and leaving him with a new net worth of $82.
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