Facebook Boycott: Disney Latest To Pull Ads In Backlash Against Platform’s Hate Speech Policies

Disney has become the latest company, and one of the largest, to cut its advertising spending on Facebook as part of the growing boycott against the social media platform. Numerous major companies – like Starbucks, Adidas, and Unilever – have pulled advertising dollars from the site due to its poor handling of hate speech and other controversial materials.

It is unclear when and for how long this advertising cut from Disney will go into effect. Ads from Disney subsidiaries like ABC and Freeform have already disappeared from the social network.

The move by Disney was first reported Saturday by the Wall Street Journal. Disney has not made any public comment on their plans.

Prior to this, the media giant had bought a significant amount of advertising on the platform for its new streaming service, Disney+. The Journal reports that Disney was in fact the biggest advertiser on Facebook in the first half of 2020, with around $210 million spent. In 2019, it was the second-biggest advertiser behind Home Depot.

“We know we have more work to do, and we’ll continue to work with civil rights groups ... and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight,” Facebook said in a statement on the boycott.

Despite this claim from the company, organizers of the boycott have said that there is “no commitment to action” after they met with CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The movement took shape earlier in July, organized by groups like the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League. These civil rights activist groups have criticized Facebook’s continued inability to efficiently fight bigoted content and intentional misinformation.