Question 1

Can your asks be realistically accomplished by Facebook?

Our ten asks are simple and most could be completed in a short period of time, including:

Shut down large groups (many with over 100,000 members) that are full of hate and violent conspiracies

Prohibit blatant lies in political ads

Enable victims of severe harassment to contact a live Facebook employee for help

So far Facebook has responded to this incredible groundswell with a lot of messaging along with some minor changes. But we are only at the starting line, and it is clear that Facebook’s users, advertisers, stakeholders and even many of their own employees demand more.

Answer

Our partner organizations have been working with Facebook for years and will continue to work with them. The Stop Hate for Profit coalition launched this campaign as a last resort because each of the founding organizations had been communicating with Facebook for years. Like businesses that have expressed similar concerns, they came away with vague timelines, shrugged shoulders or empty promises. We are always willing to engage in good faith meetings with Mark Zuckerberg. In fact, several coalition leaders met with Zuckerberg on July 7 in response to the campaign’s success right out of the gate. That meeting reinforced what we’ve known all along – that Facebook wants us to accept the same old rhetoric, repackaged as a fresh response in an attempt to run out the clock on us.

Question 2

Why don’t the coalition members just sit down and talk with Facebook about this?

Question 3

Can businesses still join even though July has ended?

The official pause is over. We are asking companies to make their own decision as to whether they will continue to withhold ads from Facebook. Many of told us they will.

Question 4

Where can I see a list of businesses who have joined?

We have received an overwhelming response to the campaign so are constantly updating our running list of participating businesses here. You can also follow along on social media with #StopHateforProfit.

Question 5

What about advertising on Twitter or Google or other Social Media?

At this time, we are only focused on Facebook and its properties (Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp, Oculus, Portal, FAN), and only on paid spend on the platform. The coalition will work to address hate in all forms and all platforms, but our current focus is Facebook.

Question 6

What is Stop Hate For Profit?

Stop Hate for Profit is a diverse and growing coalition that wants Facebook to take common-sense steps to address the rampant racism, disinformation and hate on its platform. It includes thousands of businesses as well as some of the most prominent civil rights groups and nonprofit organizations in the country including ADL, Color of Change, Common Sense, Free Press, LULAC, Mozilla, NAACP, National Hispanic Media Center, and Sleeping Giants.

Facebook’s policies and enforcement on hate speech, incitement to violence, and misinformation are astonishingly weak, and disproportionately harm BIPOC and LGBTQ+ users. Large groups dedicated to hate and violent conspiracies grow unchecked, and Facebook often recommends users join these groups. Political ads contain bald-faced lies, and even outright voter suppression. Misinformation and conspiracies on COVID-19, vaccines, climate change and the Holocaust are considered matters of debate. Victims of online harassment are left with virtually no support. Businesses’ ads are run alongside hateful content.

Question 7

Why now?

With calls across the world demanding justice for Black people in America, Facebook’s failure to protect and support its millions of Black users has persisted, perpetuating the deep impact of systemic and institutional racism. In the wake of a global health pandemic, Facebook’s failure to update the policies and processes that have allowed for hate, conspiracy theories and racist and antisemitic content to proliferate on its platform continues to be a source of pain for entire communities. In a historic election year, Facebook’s slow response to voter suppression, vitriolic and divisive content, and misinformation can have grave consequences for BIPOC voters and key democratic structures.

Stop Hate for Profit has become a galvanizing force for change. Some of the biggest companies in the world—Honda, Verizon, Hershey, Unilever—as well as hundreds of small businesses from around the country are pausing their paid advertising on Facebook – the campaign does not call for the pause of organic advertising on Facebook – and are demanding Facebook make changes – and more are joining by the hour.

These companies are taking tangible actions to support their declarations that Black Lives Matter. They are concerned with the integrity of our elections. Their customers have been impacted by an unprecedented health pandemic. They, unlike Facebook, were ready to prove that they value racial justice beyond poignant statements. They did this in many ways, including by joining the Stop Hate for Profit call and committing to an ad pause.

The coalition does not expect that Facebook will be perfect in all cases and every time. But given where they are today, significant improvement should be easy, and the coalition is asking for common-sense reforms. That is why we are recommending long overdue, reasonable changes to Facebook to make it safer and less hate-filled.

Question 8

What is the Stop Hate For Profit Week of Action?

The Stop Hate for Profit “Week of Action” will occur the week of September 14, 2020.

It is a week when individuals will be speaking out on social media to raise awareness of Facebook as a harmful force in our society and to demand that they stop profiting off of hate.

The week of action will be focused on raising awareness of two critical problems that Facebook is dramatically amplifying in our society:

Racism, Violence and Hate
Election Misinformation

Question 9

Why are you doing the Week of Action now?

We are quickly approaching one of the most consequential elections in American history. Facebook has publicized new policy changes and posted a position for a VP Civil Rights but most of their changes are falling dangerously short.

Facebook’s role in the Kenosha shooting—which was flagged hundreds of times for violations of their own platform policies—is a reminder that changing policies without changing enforcement means little. It reinforces the fact that lives are on the line and they need to act now.

Question 10

What are you trying to accomplish with the Week of Action?

There are two goals of the Stop Hate for Profit Week of Action:

Raise awareness of Facebook’s harmful impact on our society
Demand Facebook enact critical changes to their product in advance of the U.S. election in November.

We have distilled our demands to Facebook down to a list we believe is achievable before the U.S. Election in November, if Facebook dedicates the commensurate resources to addressing them.

Question 11

Didn’t you have a bunch of demands in July? How did Facebook do on those? Are these demands different?

Facebook made some changes, aligned with our July demands, which we have reported on in detail. That said, the changes they have made are not at all at the scale needed for them to meaningfully decrease their harmful impact on society.

For our September Week of Action, we have narrowed our recommendations to those most urgent for Facebook to implement before the U.S. election in November, and added a few others that have become more urgent as Facebook has yet again been implicated in the loss of human life.

Question 12

I’m an individual and want to support Stop Hate For Profit. What can I do?

Use your voice to demand Facebook adopt our recommendations to stop online hate and send the message that profits will never be worth supporting hate of any kind.

You can also post about the campaign on social media using #StopHateForProfit or share posts and images from the Stop Hate For Profit Week of Action toolkit.

Question 13

Are you asking non-profits and businesses to join this effort as well?

Non-profits and businesses are welcome to participate, although the focus of this action is individual voices. That being said, we encourage businesses and non-profits to raise their voices through their various communications channels and join the chorus of individuals who are calling for Facebook to Stop Hate for Profit during the Week of Action. We also encourage non-profits and businesses to activate their networks of supporters and customers to raise their voices as well.

Suggested messaging can be found in the Stop Hate For Profit Week of Action toolkit.

Question 14

Hasn’t Facebook already done a lot? And, didn’t they just announce policy updates? Aren’t you asking for something impossible?

Facebook is the largest communication platform in human history, with almost 2 billion users. Facebook’s annual revenue is greater than GDP of Iceland and Greenland combined, at over $70 billion. They have made announcements of product and policy changes recently, some of which may be incrementally valuable, but none at the scale which is possible and necessary given both their abundance of resources and the harms that they are inflicting on society.

Question 15

What happens if Facebook does nothing at the end of the Week of Action?

We know that the work of Stop Hate For Profit is a marathon and not a sprint. The more people use their voices, the more public figures speak out, the more out society lets Facebook know that the way they operating and the harms they are causing is unacceptable, the closer we will get to Facebook making the meaningful changes necessary to truly Stop Hate For Profit.

Frequently Asked Questions