Ad companies boycott Facebook and Instagram advertisements as part of the #StopHateForProfit campaign to show that they are unwilling to support a company that puts profit above people. As a result, it has lost more than $7 billion to Facebook.
The shares of the social network dropped by 8.3 percent on Friday, which was the most in three months since Uniliver entered the boycott movement with one of the world’s biggest advertisers. Unilever had said earlier this year it would stop spending on Facebook.
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The fall in share price lowered the market cap of Facebook by $56 billion and decreased the net worth of Mark Zuckerburg by $82.3 billion. It also brought down the ranking of the chief executive among the richest people in the world, to the fourth level. Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault, who joined the top three which includes Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, overtook Zuckerburg.
The American telecommunication company Verizon also removed their advertisements from Facebook after they heard that one of their advertisements was found alongside antisemitic content.
As a response, Facebook vice-president Carolyn Everson said:
We respect any brand’s decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information. Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.
Hopefully, Facebook can implement these changes sooner rather than later as the boycott clearly proves to be a massive blow to the finances and public reputation of the company.
