Published 19:53 IST, June 30th 2020
Puma to stop all paid ads on Facebook, Instagram as it joins #StopHateforProfit campaign
Puma said, "We are proud to join the #StopHateforProfit boycott. We will stop all advertisements on Facebook and Instagram throughout July."
Puma on June 30 joined the list of companies that have paused advertisements across social media platforms. However, Puma has only decided to pause its paid advertisements on Facebook and Instagram in order to persuade the Mark Zuckerberg-led company to remove abusive and harmful content from its platforms. "We are proud to join the #StopHateforProfit boycott. We will stop all advertisements on Facebook and Instagram throughout July," Puma tweeted on Tuesday. Media reports suggest that Facebook has lost $7 billion after advertisers decided to pause ads to the company.
Many advertisers including Unilever, Starbucks, Verizon, and Pepsico have decided to pause advertising across social media platforms in wake of them not taking any action to stop hate speech on their platforms. This comes as part of the #StopHateforProfit boycott campaign started by civil rights and advocacy groups to demand content moderation on social media. Mark Zuckerberg on June 27 said that Facebook will flag all posts that break the company's rules and policy but are deemed newsworthy. Facebook was the only major social media company that had not taken any decision related to political or hateful posts after Twitter, YouTube, Reddit announced a change in its policy.
Actions taken by other platforms
Twitter Inc has been flagging some of Donald Trump's tweets recently, which according to the company were either 'manipulative' or contained objectionable contents. YouTube also terminated some far-right channels from its platform over hate speech violations that included former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's account. Snap Inc, which runs Snapchat said that it will no longer promote Trump's account in its Discover category over his racist comments and hateful comments targeting a section of the society.
Updated 19:52 IST, June 30th 2020