Facebook Makes Changes Amid Boycott, Will Hide Or Block Misinformation, Content Deemed Hateful

Amid an ongoing boycott from advertisers, Facebook (FB) said Friday that it would begin to hide or block content that violates its policies. The social media giant has faced criticism that it is not doing enough to combat hate speech on its signature platform.

“We will soon start labeling some of the content we leave up because it is deemed newsworthy, so people can know when this is the case,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “We'll allow people to share this content to condemn it, just like we do with other problematic content, because this is an important part of how we discuss what's acceptable in our society -- but we'll add a prompt to tell people that the content they're sharing may violate our policies.”

Facebook has mostly backed away from fact-checking content and labeling inflammatory posts. After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the federal government determined that Russia and other countries used Facebook and other social media platforms to spread disinformation.

“To clarify one point: there is no newsworthiness exemption to content that incites violence or suppresses voting,” Zuckerberg continued. “Even if a politician or government official says it, if we determine that content may lead to violence or deprive people of their right to vote, we will take that content down. Similarly, there are no exceptions for politicians in any of the policies I'm announcing here today.”

President Trump has been routinely criticized for inflammatory posts on social media, with Twitter labeling some of his tweets as misinformation or glorifying violence. Facebook could also be moving toward putting labels on posts from Trump.

The “Stop Hate For Profit” campaign, organized by the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and other organizations, is a boycott against Facebook and Instagram due to their hate speech policies. Unilever, Coca-Cola and Verizon have all agreed to join the campaign and suspend Facebook advertisements.

“Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence,” the campaign’s website says.

Shares of Facebook dropped more than 8% on Friday.

The “Stop Hate For Profit” initiative comes amid the fallout from the death of George Floyd.