Third of advertisers may boycott Facebook in hate speech revolt

Third of advertisers may boycott Facebook in hate speech revolt

Almost a third of advertisers are considering joining a month-long boycott of Facebook as the social network struggles to convince advertisers that it is doing enough to fight hate speech on its platform.

The unprecedented corporate snub has been revealed in survey by the World Federation of Advertisers, whose big-spending members control nearly $100bn (£81bn) in spending.

The survey showed that a third of the top 58 advertisers will, or are likely to, suspend advertising, while a further 40% are also considering doing so.

On Monday, Ford and Adidas announced their intention to halt all advertising on the platform, joining corporations including Honda, Verizon, Diageo and Unilever.

Others, including Starbucks and Coca-Cola, have paused all advertising on social media but stopped short of officially announcing support for the "Stop Hate for Profit“ campaign, which is coordinating the Facebook boycott.

The boycott is also spreading outside the US. On Tuesday, Britvic, the owner of drinks brands including Fruit Shoot and Robinsons, said it was suspending all advertising on Facebook platforms next month, and called on the social media platform "to take stronger actions against harmful content and misinformation on its platform“.

VW said it was also joining the boycott, along with Honda Europe and Ford Europe. The