“Stop Hate For Profit” is a social media ads boycott by several major brands to increase visibility of social issues in digital media. The movement hopes to start making positive contributions to the polarizing atmosphere in the United States. Concurrently, boycotting brands feel social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not doing enough to curtail hate speech, intolerance, and misinformation on their websites.
Here is a statement from Unilever, who has chosen to stop advertising on these platforms:
Given our Responsibility Framework and the polarized atmosphere in the U.S., we have decided that starting now through at least the end of the year, we will not run brand advertising in social media newsfeed platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S. Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society. We will be monitoring ongoing and will revisit our current position if necessary.
Unilever feels “there is much more to be done, especially in the areas of divisiveness and hate speech during this polarized election period in the U.S.”. They are not the only brands stepping up to show support for change. Also, Verizon released a statement yesterday announcing their boycott which created a a new level of visibility for the Stop Hate campaign, which includes
-
-
-
- Levi’s,
- Hershey,
- Upwork,
- Patagonia,
- Honda,
- JanSport,
- North Face,
- lululemon,
- REI,
- Eddie Bauer,
- Magnolia Pictures,
- and more.
-
-
Here is an excerpt from the “Stop Hate for Profit” home page:
They named Breitbart News a “trusted news source” and made The Daily Caller a “fact checker” despite both publications having records of working with known white nationalists.
They turned a blind eye to blatant voter suppression on their platform.
Could they protect and support Black users? Could they call out Holocaust denial as hate? Could they help get out the vote?
They absolutely could. But they are actively choosing not to do so.
Social Media’s Fight
Many people feel if Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. start censoring, it could threaten our First Amendment Right to Free Speech. Therefore, is it “right” to promote hate, intolerance, bigotry, and/or false information to sway a major political election in the United States?? A sad instance is that when a social media company like Twitter decides what it values as a company are and tries to enforce its rules, they end up with another fight with politically influential people.
Recently, one of it’s most popular users violated Twitters rules, got flagged, then received extreme criticism from the President of the United States for doing so:
In conclusion, I hope media as a whole can develop best practices agreed on and enforced by all. Hopefully it will help bring our country together and quell violence preached by the ignorant.
What is your company going to do?
