Zuckerberg gets ‘Dear Mark’ video
The civil rights groups behind the month-long advertising boycott of Facebook turned up public pressure Thursday with the release of an animated “Dear Mark” video.
The message for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the waning days of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign: “You can’t wait us out. This campaign is not going away,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.
The video casts Zuckerberg as unwilling to take action against the spread of racial hatred and white supremacy even as Facebook gives hate groups “the biggest platform they have ever had.”
“Dear Mark, there are things we like about Facebook: birthdays, staying in touch, sharing our lives with our friends,” the video begins. “But there’s a more sinister side of Facebook, the one that spreads hate, racism, misinformation and gives extremists a way to communicate and co-ordinate.”
“These issues will not be resolved until Mark Zuckerberg makes the decision to stop profiting from hate,” Greenblatt said.
About 1,100 advertisers, including Walt Disney, Harley Davidson, Novartis and Bayer, stopped buying ads on Facebook and Instagram during the month of July, with some advertisers pulling their spending through the end of the year.
The advertising boycott began shortly before the release of a years-long internal civil rights audit that panned Facebook’s policies and practices, taking particular exception with the company’s decision not to take down inflammatory rhetoric and false claims from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Organizers won’t say if the boycott will continue beyond next week. So far, Facebook has agreed to meet only one of 10 demands, the hiring of an experienced civil rights executive to guide policies and vet products, but at a lower level in the company than civil rights groups wanted. “There are still nine issues that remain totally unaddressed,” Greenblatt said.
Facebook maintains it is making strides in identifying and removing misinformation and other harmful and divisive content. Zuckerberg has defended Facebook’s commitment to free expression, even as competitors take steps to address hate and disinformation on their platforms.