Ben & Jerry’s latest firm to join Facebook boycott

The groups say Facebook amplifies white supremacists, allows posts that incite violence and contain political propaganda and misinformation.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

Ben & Jerry’s is the latest company to join an advertising boycott of Facebook and Instagram called the “#StopHateForProfit” campaign. On Tuesday, it announced it will stop all paid advertising on the two social media sites.

Last week, civil rights groups called on large advertisers to pause their Facebook ad campaigns during July, saying the social network isn’t doing enough to curtail racist and violent content on its platform.

The groups include the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Color Of Change, Free Press and Common Sense.

“It is clear that Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, are no longer simply negligent, but in fact, complacent in the spread of misinformation, despite the irreversible damage to our democracy. Such actions will upend the integrity of our elections as we head into 2020,” said NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson in a statement.

“Ben & Jerry’s stands with our friends at the NAACP and Color of Change, the ADL, and all those calling for Facebook to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, foment and fan the flames of racism and violence, and undermine our democracy,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a post.

Other companies that had already joined the campaign include The North Face and the outdoor gear company REI. They were soon followed by outdoor gear company Patagonia.

The groups say Facebook amplifies white supremacists, allows posts that incite violence and contain political propaganda and misinformation, and doesn’t stop “bad actors using the platform to do harm.”

The big tech companies have struggled over how to manage the floods of posts and videos that users put on their platforms every day.

“We deeply respect any brand’s decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information,” said Carolyn Everson, vice president of Facebook’s global business group, in a statement.

It is not clear how much the boycotts will affect Facebook’s advertising revenue, which was nearly $70 billion in 2019.