Stop Hate for Profit Is Turning Its Attention to Instagram

Stop Hate for Profit, the coalition behind the movement to boycott advertising on Facebook in July—which attracted more than 1,200 companies and nonprofits—is focusing on its sister company, Instagram.

On Monday, the coalition revealed plans for a weeklong series of posts from members of the public, corporations, influencers and nonprofits, calling Facebook out for its role in inciting violence, spreading racism and hate and contributing to misinformation about the upcoming election, as well as a freeze on Instagram sharing by participants on Wednesday.

Facebook would not comment on this week’s specific actions. A spokesperson for the social network only referred to recent steps it has taken, such as its work with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to reduce harmful content, its actions against QAnon content last month and the strides it has made in proactively detecting hate speech on its platform.

Stop Hate for Profit said the deaths of protesters at a Black Lives Matter rally in Kenosha, Wis., late last month spurred its latest actions, as violent militia groups—including the Kenosha Guard—used Facebook to organize their followers and incite violence.

“It is just the latest casualty of Facebook’s choices designed to maximize profits,” the coalition said in a statement. “Our organizations, as well as other experts, have been warning Facebook for years about the problem of dangerous, potentially violent groups and individuals using Facebook. But time and time again, they’ve failed to listen.”

Stop Hate for Profit is calling for Facebook to implement the following changes prior to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3:

• Take down groups focused on white supremacy, militia, hate and violent conspiracies.
• Increase resources focused on monitoring groups for hate speech and violence.
• Change platform policy to forbid any event page with a call to arms, as recommended by Change the Terms.
• Commit 5% of annual revenue to an independently administered fund to support initiatives, academics and organizations doing the work to fight against racism, hate and division caused by Facebook’s inaction.
• Ensure accuracy in political and voting matters by eliminating the politician exemption.
• Remove misinformation related to voting that has been debunked by credible fact checkers.
• Prohibit calls to violence by politicians in any format.

Stop Hate for Profit was formed in June by six civil rights groups: the Anti-Defamation League, Color of Change, Common Sense Media, Free Press, the NAACP and Sleeping Giants. The League of United Latin American Citizens, Mozilla and the National Hispanic Media Coalition have since come on board.

“Facebook did make some concessions—but I don’t think they’ve done enough,” ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told Adweek as the boycott ended in August. “There are too many groups thriving and flourishing on the platform today. Facebook’s algorithms still recommend horrible, hateful content.”

Greenblatt added that the “ad pause in July wasn’t a full campaign—it was a warning shot. The company needs to understand that.”

https://www.adweek.com/digital/stop-hate-for-profit-is-turning-its-attention-to-instagram/