After weeks of criticism from civil rights groups and hundreds of advertiser cancellations, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is coming to the table.
Zuckerberg will hold a virtual meeting Tuesday with the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and Color of Change, a civic rights group, which together want a serious shake up and once and for all in the way Facebook handles their platform.
On the groups’ demand list, according to Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, he is placing civil rights leadership in the company’s corporate suite, rather than simply leaving important matters to human resources executives. focused on diversity. The group also wants hate victims to be able to connect with a live employee on Facebook.
“They have more followers than Christianity,” said Greenblatt. “Why can’t they solve this very basic problem? Intolerance is not a business model.”
Civil rights organizations are not the only ones calling for reform. American companies, now hit by social change and the economic insecurity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are now highly focused on Facebook.
In the past two weeks, hundreds of advertisers, from Absolut Vodka to Walgreens, have abandoned their Facebook ads in protest, leading to millions of dollars in lost revenue as part of the “Stop Hate for Profit” movement. Some stopped their ads in July, while others, like Unilever, ended ad campaigns for the rest of the year. Unilever had threatened a boycott of extremism on the platform in 2018.
Facebook has resisted similar calls in recent years while making some changes to how it handles hate speech on its platform. The company has also pointed to an investigation that found it eliminated 90 percent of hate speech before it was reported, evidence that it has come a long way in its moderation efforts.
Greenblatt was not terribly moved by that statement.
“Ford Motor Company doesn’t say that 90 percent of our seat belts work,” he said.
Advertisers have never abandoned Facebook in such numbers, and while Zuckerberg has reportedly downplayed the impact on the company’s business, the sentiment among activists and advertisers is that the company is under pressure like never before.
An expert on social media agencies, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private business conversations, said Facebook’s sentiment had changed.
“We know that our Facebook representatives have been struggling to try to convince us to stay on the platform,” said the expert.
An advertising agency executive, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about private advertising strategies, said the brands were reviewing all aspects of their advertising budgets due to COVID-19, making it easier to withdraw Facebook. Facebook’s financial loss, which continues to grow but is still small relative to its $ 70 billion annual advertising revenue, has been a gain for YouTube and Spotify, according to the executive, adding that the companies are also diverting advertising dollars. from Facebook to support own businesses and their own e-commerce sales initiatives as consumption patterns change dramatically.
The social network has already made some changes. He pledged $ 1.1 billion to fight for racial justice. On June 26, Facebook said it would rate some controversial posts as “newsworthy,” as a way to leave politicians’ objectionable content on its feet.
On June 30, Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions, shared her frustrations with customers in a public post on her Facebook page.
“These past few weeks have been the toughest stretch of my professional career, with endless days, sleepless nights and more than a few tears. It is devastating when the people and organizations you most respect and admire criticize what you have dedicated a decade of your life, “he wrote.
Everson, speaking on a call with advertisers last week, said that many of the recommendations made by civil rights groups and advertisers were already being implemented. For example, Facebook allows people to block other users and control comments on their posts.
But beyond the changes Facebook has made, there is little indication that the company is going to make major announcements. And that could spell deadlock between Facebook and advertisers.
Three people familiar with the thinking of Facebook leaders who were not authorized to speak in public said the company was listening, but that it was unlikely to announce major policy changes.
Terence Kawaja, CEO of LUMA Partners, a consulting firm specializing in digital media and marketing mergers and acquisitions, said he was concerned that Zuckerberg’s stance was already clear.
“They should redirect their attitude towards this,” said Kawaja. “It seems to be one of stubbornness.”
Dylan Byers contributed
