Civil rights groups have made a call to “defund Facebook,” and The North Face has answered.
On Friday, June 19, the major apparel brand announced that it will no longer buy Facebook ads in support of Black organizations, AdAge reports.
“We’re In. We’re Out,” the brand tweeted in response to the NAACP’s statement on Facebook’s complacency “in the spread of misinformation, despite the irreversible damage to our democracy.”
“This includes all Facebook owned properties,” they later added in a reply.
We’re in. We’re Out @Facebook #StopHateForProfit
Learn more: https://t.co/uAT7u7mjBG https://t.co/jVxTIH5ThQ
— The North Face (@thenorthface) June 19, 2020
Last week, civil rights groups launched the “StopHateforProfit” campaign, a call for major advertisers to “pause” Facebook ad campaigns during July. The movement is a response to the Mark Zuckerberg-led platform making little effort to reduce racist and violent content.
The groups involved include the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Color Of Change, Free Press, and Common Sense.
“Effective June 19, The North Face is halting all U.S. paid advertising with Facebook until stricter policies are put in place to stop racist, violent or hateful content and misinformation from circulating on the platform,” a company spokeswoman for The North Face said by email. “We know that for too long harmful, racist rhetoric and misinformation has made the world unequal and unsafe, and we stand with the NAACP and the other organizations who are working to #StopHateforProfit.”
Facebook responded to the move with understanding and promises to remedy their long-critiqued behavior of inaction.
“We deeply respect any brand’s decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information,” said Carolyn Everson, the VP of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook. “Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.”