FACING THE BOYCOTT ADVERTISING AND A LOSS OF 7.2 BILLION FACEBOOK STRENGTHENS

 THE RULES OF MODERATION

They have stopped their advertising campaigns on Facebook or Instagram in the name of the fight against hatred on the networks. Patagonia and North Face were the first to position themselves by canceling advertising campaigns planned on Facebook and Instagram for the month of July. Coca-cola followed very quickly, before the Mozilla browser, Starbucks cafes or Dockers clothes got into gear. The arrival of large groups like Unilever alongside brands already committed to the boycott has established the movement over time.

Movement Against Systemic Racism in the United States

In the context of the vast movement against systemic racism in the United States, which resurfaced after the death of Georges Floyd, associations, including the NAACP, the large organization for the defense of the civil rights of African-Americans and an organization fighting against anti-Semitism, the Anti-Defamation League, as well as the Sleeping Giants collective called on companies not to buy ad space on Facebook in July. Facebook is seen as overly tolerant of racist, insulting, or advocating speeches - including comments made by US President Donald Trump.

"Stop Hate for Profit"

In a long plea posted on the “Stop Hate for Profit” site, the organizers detail their approach. “Social networks have allowed hatred and extremism to spread faster than ever (…). Every day, our organizations are alerted to numerous examples of hate and disinformation messages disseminated on Facebook and supported by paid advertising ”, we can read.

“There was a domino effect in a context of very strong social tensions in the United States. Brand neutrality on subjects such as racism or the defense of civil rights is no longer tolerated. Those who have been silent in recent weeks have been strongly criticized, ”explains Stéphanie Laporte, director of the“ social media ”program at Inseec.

New digital activism

"We have entered a new era of digital activism," notes Greg Sterling, an analyst specializing in online marketing. “NGOs call on advertisers to clean up social networks, because of their reluctance, or even their refusal, to do it themselves. Whose act: all social platforms will be forced to review their regulations, adjust them or adopt new measures that prevent hatred and racism from proliferating. "

“The networks will have to take this problem seriously, otherwise their revenues will be directly affected,” says Michelle Amazeen, professor of communication at Boston University. The pressure is mounting, "finally, to make platforms responsible hosts that do not promote hatred and violence to generate profits."

Tightening of moderation rules

The “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign has already tarnished the image of the firm. Last Friday, Facebook's share price fell more than 8%, causing losses estimated at $ 7.2 billion by the Bloomberg site.

If Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of the planetary social network, has been defending for months his a priori approach more lax than Twitter or YouTube in the name of freedom of expression, he was however obliged to present concessions last Friday . The platform will now remove more types of hate advertisements, and problematic messages from politicians can be masked and flagged as such, much like its competitor Twitter. From now on, Facebook will thus withdraw all advertisements which affirm in particular that people of certain origins, ethnicities, nationalities, gender or sexual orientation represent a threat to the safety or health of others.

Heavy reliance of brands on Facebook and Instagram

But the degree of reliance of brands on Facebook is enormous. The audience that we find on Facebook and Instagram - which belongs to Facebook - cannot be found elsewhere. Facebook has 2.6 billion users and over 7 million advertisers on its family of applications, the majority of which are SMEs.

Advertisers may therefore not resist for very long the appeal of such an audience, targeted and personalized on a very large scale.