- Ben & Jerry’s is stopping paid advertising on Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram about the company’s hate speech policies, the company announced in a tweet Tuesday.
- “Facebook, Inc. must take clear and unequivocal actions to prevent its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hatred,” the company said.
- The Vermont-based ice cream maker joins a growing list of advertisers boycotting the platform at the behest of civil rights groups who say Facebook has been unwilling to solve the problem and has been unable to fix it.
- Facebook has faced strong criticism for its approach to moderating hate speech, particularly in the wake of its refusal to act on Trump’s controversial tweets.
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Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s announced in a tweet Thursday that it will stop advertising on Facebook over concerns about the role of social media in spreading hate speech.
“We will pause all paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the US in support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign,” the company said. “Facebook, Inc. must take clear and unequivocal actions to prevent its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hatred.”
The announcement comes in response to a call last week from major civil rights groups, including NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, for advertisers to leave the platform.
The groups said Facebook amplifies white supremacists, allows posts that incite violence and contain misinformation, and has been reluctant to take significant steps to address the issues.
Ben & Jerry’s, which has been campaigning against racial inequality for years, joins a growing list of companies that have joined the boycott, including The North Face, Patagonia and REI.
Facebook has faced mounting backlash over its role in spreading misinformation and harmful content, particularly in the wake of its refusal to act in controversial posts by Trump around election misinformation and racial justice protests.
