There is an advertiser backlash against facebook and instagram due to concern that the social media platforms are not doing enough to police misinformation and hate speech. Last week Facebook announced that it would start labeling political speech but Facebook has resisted attempts to make it moderate ads. Nearly 100 advertisers have paused or cut advertising. The facebook boycotters, together with the dollars involved:
- Unilever $42 million
- Verion $23 million
- Coca Cola $22 million
- REI $23 million
- Honda $6 million
- Pantagonia $6 million
- North Face $3 million
- Levi-Strauss $3 million
- Lulumon $2 million
- Eddit Bauer $1 million
- Birchbox $1 million
- P&G says things are under review.
Insider’s take: Brands have long been worried about brand safety when their ads are juxtaposed with inflamatory or controversial content on the internet. Now they don’t want their ads on a platforms which lack controls on inflammatory speech or misinformation. This will help out of home if some of the social media dollars end up there. Out of home doesn’t have Facebook’s problem because most out of home companies moderate ads to avoid misinformation or hate speech. There will always be a tension between completely free speech and responsible speech but that doesn’t mean you should punt like facebook does.
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