The campaign to convince marketers to abandon Facebook has added one of the world’s largest ad spenders.
Global consumer packaged goods company Unilever announced on Friday that it will suspend its advertising on Facebook and Instagram, joining a growing movement to stop spending dollars on advertising on social media platforms.
The New Jersey-based conglomerate also said it would withdraw its Twitter advertising due to a polarized climate on social media, which is exacerbated by the upcoming elections.
In a post on its website, Unilever referred to its “Accountability Framework that demands more responsible platforms, content and infrastructure.”
“Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society,” the company said. “We will be monitoring in progress and will revisit our current position if necessary.”
Unilever joins a growing list of advertisers, including wireless service company Verizon, to stop its advertising spending. The measures come when social justice organizations and ad watchers have teamed up to pressure companies with details on how their ads support hate speech.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the Unilever news.
According to the company’s annual report, Unilever is one of the world’s largest advertisers and spent close to $ 8.2 billion in 2019 on “brand investment and marketing.” He owns a variety of consumer brands including Lipton tea, Dove beauty products and the Ax line of men’s grooming products.
Facebook has come under fire for its decision not to take action on President Donald Trump’s statements warning that looters during the protests would be shot. While the platform has in recent years taken numerous measures to combat hate speech, civil rights groups continue to criticize the role of the social platform in increasing extremism along with the freedom it gives the president.
Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said the company spends billions of dollars a year to keep its platform secure.
“We have opened up to a civil rights audit, and we have banned 250 white supremacist organizations from Facebook and Instagram,” Stone said in an emailed statement.
Stone also emphasized a recent European Union report that said Facebook identified 90 percent of hate speech before it was reported and acts faster than Twitter or YouTube.
The Facebook protest was mobilized by the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups such as Color of Change and Sleeping Giants, a group that targets advertisers who support certain right-wing content, among others.
Rashad Robinson, president of Color Of Change, applauded the Unilever movement.
“As one of the biggest spenders on Facebook platforms, Unilever’s decision to stop advertising and commit to our #StopHateforProfit commitment brings us a major step forward in holding Facebook accountable for allowing hateful, demeaning and discriminatory content against blacks” Robinson said in a statement. statement by email. “Facebook leaders must understand the gravity of this civil rights movement and take urgent steps to remedy its damage, including the implementation of a permanent civil rights infrastructure. Facebook can no longer afford to look the other way.”
Facebook has come under some pressure in recent years from advertisers on how it moderates its platform, but those efforts have often failed to make a big difference. Now Unilever could end up influencing other companies to abandon Facebook, opening the door to a real impact on Facebook’s businesses, according to Nicole Perrin, principal analyst at digital marketing analytics firm eMarketer.
“The Unilever statement cites ‘divisiveness’ and hate speech,” said Perrin. “That suggests a deeper problem with user-generated content platforms, as division on any platform that allows for political expression is to be expected.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to advertisers this week to calm the storm of protests about the way the company handles political ads and also the proliferation of hate speech and false information across the board.
Twitter did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
Facebook shares fell 7 percent on Friday afternoon, although it had declined throughout the day along with a broader drop in the US stock market.
Unilever also said in a separate statement on its website that it would remove the words “fair and charming” from a brand of skin whitening products sold in India as part of an evolution on definitions of beauty.
Dylan Byers and Jo Ling Kent contributed
