Microsoft has suspended advertising on Facebook and Instagram, which also belong to social networks, at least until the end of August. The Axios server was the first to point this out, which was later confirmed by the technology company itself. “Due to concerns we had in May, we suspended media spending on Facebook and Instagram in the US, and subsequently suspended global spending,” wrote Microsoft Captain Chris Capossela in internal communications, which Axios quotes.
Capossela further explained that he displayed Microsoft ads alongside “inappropriate content.” He cited “hateful comments, pornography, terrorist content, and so on” as examples of such content, but did not specify whether Microsoft’s advertisement appeared alongside such posts.
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Other companies are boycotting Facebook to force the social network to better filter the hateful content of its users.
For the time being, the German car concern, which also includes the Czech Škoda Auto, will suspend its activities on Facebook for one month. “The environment of false news and hate speech is not acceptable to us,” said a spokesman for the group, according to Handelsblatt.
The American carmaker Ford also announced that it is suspending advertising campaigns for the next 30 days, even on all social networks. During this time, he will review his social media presentation strategy. In the last few hours, the sports equipment manufacturer Adidas, its competitor Puma or the technology company HP also put a stop to spending on Facebook and possibly also on Instagram.
More than 160 companies have already signed up for the boycott of Facebook, in addition to the ones mentioned above, such as Verizon Communications, Coca-Cola and Unilever. However, according to Pathmatics, with few exceptions, it is not one of the 100 largest social advertisers.
According to Marketwatch, the director of the consulting company MKM Partners, Rohit Kulkarni, stated in a report for clients that the boycott of Facebook’s revenues will erase no more than five percent. A large part of the social network’s advertising revenue comes from small advertisers and mobile advertising.
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A survey by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) found that almost a third of the world’s major brands would suspend social media spending due to poor regulation of hate speech. The Financial Times drew attention to the survey. WFA members generate 90 percent of the world’s marketing communications expenses.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has promised that his company will start to pay more attention to this topic. Videos with sensitive or potentially offensive content should be more monitored and provided with additional security features, he said, among other things. However, according to experts, the introduction of effective measures is in the long run.
Facebook stocks fell sharply at the end of last week; it erased $ 60 billion in company value in two days. During trading on Monday, however, the shares strengthened by two percent, despite the announced departure of other big names.
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