Starbucks latest to pause social media ads, pledges to curb spread of hate speech

Amid widespread demonstrations around world against racism, several major companies have paused social media advertisements as a protest against hate speech on platforms.

In latest development to movement, Starbucks has w decided to pause advertising on all social media platforms and promised to have discussions with media partners and civil rights organizations to stop spread of hate speech.  coffeehouse company on Sunday anunced it will continue to post on social media without paid promotion.

READ | Hindustan Unilever To Stop Using 'Fair' In 'Fair & Lovely' Brand; HUL Issues Statement

Starbucks, however, said its actions are t part of #StopHateForProfit ad boycott campaign called by civil rights organisations which kicked off earlier this month.  advertisement boycott campaign that began with Facebook is w hitting or social media platforms as well. 

Coca Cola on Friday also said it would pull out advertisements from all social media platforms globally for thirty days, while Unilever has halted ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in US till December 31.

READ | Facebook Anunces Measures To Deal With Hate Speech, Misinformation And Voter Suppression

Facebook loses $7 billion

CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has lost $7.2 billion after several companies pulled out of Facebook ads.  companies which have boycotted promotion on social media platform include Unilever which said that it would stop spending money on Facebook this year. In addition, major brands like Verizon communication, Hershey’s which accounted for a large share in company's revenue have also backed off.

READ | Facebook To Provide $200 Million Fund To Support 'black-owned Businesses'

All this is has led to a plunge in market value of company with its shares falling by 8.3 percent on June 26. Louise Vuitton's Bernard Arnault who overtook Zuckerberg to become third richest man on net is only behind Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft's Bill Gates. 

In recent months, demands for boycotting Facebook have grown with civil rights groups slamming social media platform for t taking effective action against hate speech, racist posts, paid political advertisements with hyper targetting users. 

READ | Coca Cola Pauses Paid Advertising On Social Media For A Month, Says ' Place For Racism'