With the approach of the November American elections, the tone rises about social networks. The Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed in 2018 is still remembered, and current anti-racism movements have increased a formal need for transparency in social media. After having put on the back a large part of its employees, last week, Facebook knew a protest movement among its advertisers.
Unilever, Coca-Cola, Honda, Verizon and more than 120 other companies took part in a boycott. Over the next 30 days, they will no longer spend on advertising space on Mark Zuckerberg’s social network, in protest for better transparency of the platform and better control over hate content left online.
The story is not unrelated to the position of the founder of Facebook, who last May had decided to stay behind on the issue of publications by President Donald Trump, censored by Twitter and penalized by Snapchat. This period had renewed the loss of the trust of users and employees on the social network. An already significant problem, but which is nothing when faced with a dispute with advertisers.
Very significant crisis at #Facebook following the hateful content disseminated on its platform. #Zuckerberg finally claims to ban hate messages in advertisements but Verizon, Unilever, Coca Cola, Hershey and Lévi Strauss announce that they will withdraw from the platform … MORE
— LAURENCE HAIM (@lauhaim) June 27, 2020
Touch the chord
Facebook derives most of its revenue from advertising, and an experience like this could have far-reaching consequences. For now, the group – which also has Instagram – is not shy. It must be said that the company is raking in billions of dollars in revenue and that, contrary to what one might think, this revenue comes largely from small businesses wishing to offer a little visibility.
The protest movement will last a month according to current comments from companies that have decided to join it. “Coca-Cola will suspend paid advertising on all social media platforms worldwide for at least 30 days. We will take this time to reassess our advertising policies to determine if revisions are necessary. We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners. “
Facebook takes action
Friday, Facebook reacted to these various announcements and although it does not comment on the potential consequences in revenue, the Californian firm wanted to defend itself through measures carried out in comparison with other social platforms. “The investments we have made in AI mean that we find almost 90% of the hate speech we take before users report it to us, while a recent EU report found that Facebook has rated more hate speech reports in 24 hours than Twitter and YouTube », a spokesperson said in a statement.
Proof that the subject is taken seriously and that Facebook is touched on its sensitive rope, it decided to strengthen its regulation of advertisements inciting hatred, and to allow better reporting of published messages that would go against its policy . This stricter moderation echoes the removal by the platform of several advertisements for the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. On June 18, Facebook took a step towards the position of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, by censoring messages deemed to be hateful.
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