US Facebook Advertising Boycott to Expand Internationally
2020-06-30
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1American organizers of a Facebook advertising boycott say they are seeking support in Europe to push the social media service to do more to remove hate speech.
2The "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign has received support from more than 160 companies.
3They include American corporations like Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Company, Patagonia and The Hershey Company.
4The companies united to stop buying advertising on Facebook, the world's largest social media company.
5The boycott, which includes Facebook-owned Instagram, was launched following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
6Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.
7The incident was caught on video.
8Floyd's death led to widespread protests across America aimed at police and racial inequality.
9Anger over Floyd's death also led to public demonstrations in cities across the world.
10Some corporations also released statements denouncing racism in society.
11The Stop Hate for Profit campaign is supported by several U.S. civil rights groups and non-profit media organizations.
12One group is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
13The ADL said in a recent open letter that Facebook's "hate speech, incitement, and misinformation policies are inequitable."
14The group said Facebook's efforts to find and remove hateful material are not effective.
15It added that a company's ad can appear on Facebook next to "hateful or divisive" material.
16The ADL also criticized the company for failing to remove false information appearing in advertisements or published by users.
17Critics have said that Facebook reported receiving $70 billion in advertising money in 2019, while earning about $18 billion in profit.
18One campaign supporter is the group Free Press.
19It said that even with such high advertising profits, "the company has repeatedly failed to meaningfully address hate, incitement to violence and disinformation across its products."
20The Stop Hate for Profit campaign has created a set of demands for Facebook.
21Among them are the establishment of a new process to help users targeted with ads based on race and other identifiers.
22The groups are pushing Facebook to release more information about the number of hate speech reports it receives.
23They also want the company to stop making money from ads linked to harmful content.
24Jim Steyer heads the media education group Common Sense Media.
25He recently told the Reuters news agency that the campaign will start calling on major companies in Europe to join the boycott.
26"The next frontier is global pressure," said Steyer.
27He added that he hopes the campaign will lead regulators in Europe to reexamine policies covering the social media company.
28Earlier this month, the European Commission announced new guidelines for technology companies to report monthly how they are attempting to reduce misinformation about the new coronavirus.
29Steyer said the campaign will urge major international advertisers like Unilever and Honda - which have already stopped buying U.S. ads - to halt all Facebook ads worldwide.
30Campaign organizers say they also plan to keep urging more U.S. companies to take part in the boycott.
31Jessica Gonzalez is co-leader of the group Free Press.
32Gonzalez told Reuters she recently contacted big U.S. telecommunications and media companies to ask them to join.
33Responding to demands for more action, Facebook has admitted the company has more work to do.
34It said it was working with civil rights groups and experts to develop more tools to fight hate speech.
35Facebook said its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) tools permit the company to identify about 90 percent of hate speech before users report it.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1American organizers of a Facebook advertising boycott say they are seeking support in Europe to push the social media service to do more to remove hate speech. 2The "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign has received support from more than 160 companies. They include American corporations like Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Company, Patagonia and The Hershey Company. 3The companies united to stop buying advertising on Facebook, the world's largest social media company. The boycott, which includes Facebook-owned Instagram, was launched following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 4Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. The incident was caught on video. Floyd's death led to widespread protests across America aimed at police and racial inequality. 5Anger over Floyd's death also led to public demonstrations in cities across the world. Some corporations also released statements denouncing racism in society. 6The Stop Hate for Profit campaign is supported by several U.S. civil rights groups and non-profit media organizations. 7One group is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL said in a recent open letter that Facebook's "hate speech, incitement, and misinformation policies are inequitable." 8The group said Facebook's efforts to find and remove hateful material are not effective. It added that a company's ad can appear on Facebook next to "hateful or divisive" material. The ADL also criticized the company for failing to remove false information appearing in advertisements or published by users. 9Critics have said that Facebook reported receiving $70 billion in advertising money in 2019, while earning about $18 billion in profit. 10One campaign supporter is the group Free Press. It said that even with such high advertising profits, "the company has repeatedly failed to meaningfully address hate, incitement to violence and disinformation across its products." 11The Stop Hate for Profit campaign has created a set of demands for Facebook. 12Among them are the establishment of a new process to help users targeted with ads based on race and other identifiers. The groups are pushing Facebook to release more information about the number of hate speech reports it receives. They also want the company to stop making money from ads linked to harmful content. 13Jim Steyer heads the media education group Common Sense Media. He recently told the Reuters news agency that the campaign will start calling on major companies in Europe to join the boycott. 14"The next frontier is global pressure," said Steyer. He added that he hopes the campaign will lead regulators in Europe to reexamine policies covering the social media company. Earlier this month, the European Commission announced new guidelines for technology companies to report monthly how they are attempting to reduce misinformation about the new coronavirus. 15Steyer said the campaign will urge major international advertisers like Unilever and Honda - which have already stopped buying U.S. ads - to halt all Facebook ads worldwide. 16Campaign organizers say they also plan to keep urging more U.S. companies to take part in the boycott. Jessica Gonzalez is co-leader of the group Free Press. Gonzalez told Reuters she recently contacted big U.S. telecommunications and media companies to ask them to join. 17Responding to demands for more action, Facebook has admitted the company has more work to do. It said it was working with civil rights groups and experts to develop more tools to fight hate speech. Facebook said its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) tools permit the company to identify about 90 percent of hate speech before users report it. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19Sheila Dang reported this story for Reuters. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English, with additional information from the Stop Hate for Profit campaign and online sources. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 21________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23kneel - v. to put one or both knees on the ground 24inequitable - adj. not fair 25divisive - adj. causing disagreements between people 26address - v. to discuss 27content - n. the information or ideas included in a book, film or on the internet 28frontier - n. the limits of what is known or what has been done before 29regulator - n. the prople or institutions that make rules or laws that control something 30artificial intelligence - n. the power of a machine to copy intelligent human behavior