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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company VP for Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg. Niall Carson

Unfriended: Is #StopHateForProfit a tipping point for Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg?

Some of the internet’s biggest advertisers have started to pull their ads from the site.

IN 2010′s THE Social Network about the early days of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s character resists putting ads on the fledgling website, declaring: “Facebook is cool, and that’s a priceless asset I’m not giving up.”

In the 10 years since that film was released, any pretensions to valuing style over money have long since evaporated. The website now has a staggering 2.6 billion monthly users across the world and, along with Google, dominates the market in online advertising spend. 

It’s also lost the cool factor that Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg spoke so highly of.

Facebook’s ubiquity has meant it’s no longer the place to be seen and the rapid growth of fake news and hate speech on the platform have turned a once positive environment into one many now view as toxic. 

Criticising Facebook is nothing new in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal but it’s recently become a crescendo. What’s changed is the ever-growing polarisation of US society, the worsening public discourse and the belief that Facebook is a driver of both. 

A fortnight ago MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough had a viral seven-minute tirade in which he accused Zuckerberg and his website of pushing people towards extremist sites. The clip is a bit jarring for Irish viewers more accustomed to impartial TV anchors, but it demonstrates the extent to which trashing Facebook has become mainstream. 

In addition, the Black Lives Matter movement has forced companies and individuals into a reckoning with past behaviours, with the facilitation of racism among the issues that companies are grappling with.

The #StopHateForProfit campaign has grown up around this and exploded in the past week, leading to some of the biggest advertisers in the world have pulling their ads from social media.

Consumer giant Unilever, home to dozens of brands including Ben and Jerry’s, Dove soap, Magnum ice cream and Knorr, announced last week it was to stop advertising on Facebook in the US.

It said this would continue until the end of 2020 due to the “polarised election period” in the country. Other huge brands have done similar, with US telecoms Verizon even challenging Facebook to do more.

“We’re pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable,” Verizon’s chief media officer John Nitti said bluntly.

In the last couple of days Coca-Cola and Starbucks have also announced they will stop advertising on social media. Two iconic brands that probably outshine even Facebook in their impact on US consumer society.

There is an argument that there’s a bit of bandwagoning going on here and other factors at play too. Tech writer Benedict Evans argues in his latest newsletter that it suits big companies to leave Facebook for a number of reasons right now.

“A cynic would say they’re all slashing their ad budgets anyway and this is a convenient excuse and some free purpose-washing,” he explains.

A financial analyst would also point out that something like three quarters of Facebook’s advertising is actually from SMEs, and though Unilever is one of the world’s biggest advertisers, it’s a tiny share of Facebook revenue.

But even if the dent to revenue is comparatively small, the reputational damage is huge and it hits the company in the share price.

On Friday, shares in Facebook fell by 8.3% following the Unilever news, wiping $56 billion from the company’s market value and making Zuckerberg himself $7.2 billion poorer

Zuckerberg announced some big changes last Friday, promising to ban a “wider category of hateful conduct” and to add labels to posts that are “newsworthy” but violate platform rules.

“We’re also expanding our policies to better protect immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers” from hateful ads, Zuckerberg continued.

Facebook had also previously resisted fact-checking political ads, saying they belong in a different category, but it is now bowing to the pressure of the market.

The market, of course, meaning money.

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    Mute David Bourke
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    Jun 29th 2020, 3:58 PM

    “The clip is a bit jarring for Irish viewers more accustomed to impartial TV anchors”

    lmao, that’s a good one! So impartial and unbiased!

    Anyway, companies are pulling ads because we’re in a massive global recession and they want to cut costs. Nothing to do with some social consciousness.

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:10 PM

    @David Bourke: You possibly think they are not impartial just because you don’t agree with them.

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    Mute Kevin Lonergan
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:19 PM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: Most Irish TV hosts/journalists are anything but impartial. You only have to watch interviews with different politicians, and listen to the language and tone used in putting questions to them, to see that there is very little in the way of impartial or unbiased interviewing.

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    Mute Will
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:23 PM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: There is no impartial news in America (except maybe local news). The news over there first became a product or simply another part of the entertainment industry as far back as the 80s (maybe earlier) and now every news organisation has a narrative they try to push meaning they only report the bits of the news that support the narrative.
    Fox news were the first to blatantly do this but they all do it now.

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    Mute Gerard Lord
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:53 PM

    @David Bourke: Coca Cola are probably not losing money let’s be honest not enough to stop advertising

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    Mute Hana Barbera
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    Jun 29th 2020, 6:11 PM

    @Will: Oprah Winfrey, opening the door for even worse pseudo-journalists.

    12
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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Jun 29th 2020, 6:14 PM

    @Kevin Lonergan: each journalist has a totally different style.

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    Mute David Bourke
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    Jun 29th 2020, 9:33 PM

    @Gerard Lord:

    If their competitors are too broke to advertise, then Coca Cola has no need to advertise themselves.

    (and actually their sales have been hit quite badly due to changes in consumer spending habits)

    4
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    Mute Gerard Smith
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    Jun 30th 2020, 2:48 AM

    @David Bourke: they more than made up for this with their investments in Waters, Juices and Coffee.

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    Mute Pat Kelly
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:06 PM

    Is this the beginning of the end for Facebook.. hope so…

    174
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    Mute Seamus McLaughlin
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:33 PM

    @Pat Kelly: why do you wish its demise? Genuinely interested.

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    Mute Michael Patrick Newell
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:46 PM

    @Seamus McLaughlin: Because like all social media, it has some good points and uses but sadly its becoming the cause of so many issues and like lots of social media is being linked to causing stress and anxiety in users and has done nothing to stop some of the darker aspects of social media

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    Mute Pat Kelly
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:01 PM

    @Seamus McLaughlin: just have major problem with the content it allows and has gotten away with.. I mean it is literally responsible for some of the worst misinformation and appalling graphical content ! And I know it is so big now that it cant police every single post, but o dont see that as acceptable when peoples lives have been affected so dramatically by the issues Fackbook refused to address for a long time. Not to mention selling information on its users with out their knowledge and the subsequent attempted cover up…

    41
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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:12 PM

    @Pat Kelly: the problem is with people surely? There is always a tendency to let individuals off the hook for their own actions as soon as there’s a big bad boogeyman corporation to blame.

    People post that rubbish – blame them at least as much as the media – preferably more.

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    Mute Seamus McLaughlin
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:19 PM

    @Pat Kelly: yeah, l know – the promotion of left and right wing rethoric, political propaganda, hatred crap along with people self-promoting when they go to the airport, night out, cinema etc. I personally use it for cycling, swimming and running events, dates, timings. It’s also great for buy and sell. Others probably find it good for their interests and hobbies. If they could clean up the darker side, l don’t see any reason for its demise.

    13
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    Mute Paddy
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:22 PM

    @Seamus McLaughlin: It’s essentially become too big to manage and as a result the overall quality of the content is in the dumpster.

    There’s no real standards and quality control.
    Nothing is stopping misleading and outright false advertisements (see any mobile game being advertised on the site). Copyright control is almost non existent,with hundreds of unrelated pages regurgitating the same videos and clips. Dangerous misinformation can be spread without any form of fact checking to hundreds of thousands of people. Rage and click bait articles/advertisements have become the norm thanks to headlines needing to grab the attention of those scrolling through it….

    It really is just a mess and has significantly changed from a way to connect with friends to a way of targeting content at audiences.

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    Mute Gerard Lord
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:51 PM

    @Pat Kelly: But isn’t twitter just as bad

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    Mute Pat Kelly
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:54 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: true but still doesn’t change fact Facebook gets a free pass because of.. lack of regulation and FB ability to take advantage could backfire on it’s own credibility..

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    Mute Hana Barbera
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    Jun 29th 2020, 6:42 PM

    @Pat Kelly: My question is why have we allowed a bunch of barely out of university silicon valley billionaires to decide what is right and what is wrong today. Who has abused that power we aren’t aware of yet? Their interference concerns me more than any country’s outside the West. Do we really think their moral compass has no price?

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    Mute Kieran Shortt
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:08 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: might be easier to police the corporation rather than an individual- The fact we have bots used by state actors to spread misinformation (for years) is very concerning – a lot of people will not be able to judge whether it’s true or false and act on it. It’s no longer just a social platform

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    Mute Kieran Shortt
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:11 PM

    @Gerard Lord: at least they’re doing something. Would be better if FB and Twitter didn’t allow politicians to use their platform at all.

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    Mute Kieran Shortt
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:12 PM

    @Hana Barbera: Bang on!

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    Mute Pat Kelly
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    Jun 29th 2020, 10:40 PM

    @Gerard Lord: yeah if anything its actually worse..

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    Mute Pat Kelly
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    Jun 29th 2020, 10:44 PM

    @Hana Barbera: I think it’s just about the money with these companies, but then how could it be about anything else theses days. I go back to the policing of theses companies or lack of and the fact they can get away with anything. It’s really the lack of regulation by governments that is the bigger problem…

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    Mute Pat Kelly
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    Jun 29th 2020, 10:49 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: your properly right, but isn’t there always going to be a ” bogeyman corporation ” of some sort ? If government doesn’t stop it getting out of control when it to becomes complicit in the act. Ultimately government failings is what allowed FB to become the Monster ( in every sense of the ) that it is today…

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    Mute Rossa Crowe
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    Jun 30th 2020, 6:52 AM

    @Paddy: The entire Internet is like that. Facebook is just the fall guy.

    1
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    Mute Isabel Oliveira
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:11 PM

    I don’t like being told what to do by “ organised pressure groups “ . Never have and never will.

    109
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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:32 PM

    @Isabel Oliveira: As long as you don’t do the polar opposite on principle. Going against the grain for the sake of it is the same as doing what you’re told by ‘organised pressure groups’.

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    Mute Tom Smith
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:39 PM

    @Isabel Oliveira: you’d rather be fooled by targeted ads then.

    27
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    Mute Gerard Lord
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    Jun 29th 2020, 3:54 PM

    Facebook is starting to look very ineffective and messy now compared to Instagram or Twitter even. It’s starting to look like Bebo lol

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    Mute Seán O'Loughlin
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:21 PM

    @Gerard Lord: But Instagram is owned by Facebook, so why arent they run the same way?

    26
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    Mute Seán O'Loughlin
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:25 PM

    Anyone know why the comments on the Zoom Misinformation post are turned off?

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    Mute Migeldy
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:56 PM

    @Seán O’Loughlin: They’re fairly different content wise, it doesn’t need tackling like Facebook does. Mostly people putting up holiday/night out/general life photos, comments usually limited to compliments or talking about the photo. Don’t have news constantly being shared and arguments in comment sections all the time. Nicer place to be, once you’re following people you genuinely like.

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    Mute Seymour business
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:49 PM

    Seems to me facebook is a general reflection of society. Just like influencers who are famous for being famous have millions of followers/lemmings hanging on their every word. Maybe Facebook isn’t the problem..

    44
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    Mute Michael Patrick Newell
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:12 PM

    Time to dust off the bebo profile, get back to good aul days of light touch social media

    44
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    Mute Gerard Smith
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    Jun 30th 2020, 2:49 AM

    @Michael Patrick Newell: ah auld Nidge…”I was updating me Bebo profile”.

    1
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    Mute David Van-Standen
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:46 PM

    I have personally spent a lot of time online since internet access first became available with a paid subscription to Ireland online and have been on Facebook since 2009, yet as far as I can recall I have never seen any “hate speech for profit” and other than a few muppets making racist or xenephobic comments, that’s about it.

    I think like everything else on the internet you really have to be looking for it to find it, either because you hold these views, express them and are looking for like minded people to have a hate filled grunting sessions with, or you are looking for it so you can be offended by it and launch a campaign against it just to demonstrate your woke credentials….

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:47 PM

    You should read what the die hard USA trump supports say about this. They seem very confused about how hate speech can be defined. They are crying about it saying the liberals are silencing them for their own “agenda”. The agenda isn’t very clear as some seem to think it is to make everyone gay while others claim it is to emirate the white race. They don’t seem to understand that many countries have laws against hate speech and it can certainly be defined. Many people even here think unrestricted speech is great, it isn’t. What I also find funny is they are ignoring all the time conservative groups boycotted many brands and companies to change their ways. It is actually freedom of speech to tell companies to stop supporting other companies. The companies don’t have to listen.

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    Mute Hana Barbera
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:05 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: You’ll probably never get the multiple points of irony in this comment.

    21
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    Mute Damon16
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    Jun 29th 2020, 9:41 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: Define it so. I’d be interested to hear your definition.

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    Mute Ross O'Donnell
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    Jun 29th 2020, 4:56 PM

    Talking about adds and the like and I clicked into the adds scrolling through this article accidentally. So sick to my back teeth of incessant advertising.

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Jun 29th 2020, 5:58 PM

    @Ross O’Donnell: it is “ad” as in short for advertisement. Always annoyed when people get that wrong

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    Mute Ross O'Donnell
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    Jun 29th 2020, 6:08 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: good god. I’m ever so sorry.

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    Mute Kieran Shortt
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:17 PM

    @Ross O’Donnell: Actually that’s the thing that bugs me the most. I even feel like it’s affected my concentration.

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    Mute Hana Barbera
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    Jun 29th 2020, 6:45 PM

    FB is the industry’s sacrifice. That’s all.

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    Mute Éanna McClean
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    Jun 29th 2020, 7:45 PM

    To me it is strange to see comments that Facebook will go the same way Bebo did. At its highest point Bebo had 117 million active users. Latest data shows FB has 2.6 billion active users, thats with a B.

    Some context is needed here, Facebook is not going away. But clearly change is needed

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    Mute Dermot O'Reilly
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    Jul 1st 2020, 8:53 AM

    Facebook is anti Catholic

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    Mute David H Moloney
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    Jul 3rd 2020, 3:00 PM

    Facebooks Failure to moderate the material on their Platform.
    • Channel 4 programme in July 2018, highlighted how Facebook moderators in Dublin were instructed not to remove extreme, abusive or graphic content from the platform even when it violated the company’s guidelines.
    • Facebook aim to make profit and are only interest in getting views and selling ads.
    • IRELAND’S PRESS OMBUDSMAN has said that the government needs to take action to regulate information being spread on Facebook in the same manner as traditional media content is regulated in this country. He described social media as a place where “untrue, dishonest, angry and ugly” information can be posted “largely without any means of being challenged”. He said “It’s very difficult to get stuff taken down from Facebook,”
    • He said: “Facebook have 1,600 people across the road from our office but you can’t ring them. We’ve asked Facebook for a phone number for members of the public to pass on their concerns. We’re directed to complaints@facebook.com. At a newspaper, at least you can get to speak to someone who can action your problem.”
    • It would be “useful” if the Government introduced new hate crime laws, the Garda Commissioner said.

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    Mute David H Moloney
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    Jul 3rd 2020, 2:50 PM

    Facebook’s Advertisers Stop Supporting Online Hate & Harassment.
    Facebook Advertising Boycott “StopHateForProfit” international campaign.
    Spending by some advertisers in Ireland between Mar 2019 – Jul 1, 2020 on Facebook Ads

    Fine Gael €111,000
    Fianna Fail €94,000
    Sinn Fein €52,000
    AIB €34,000
    Labour Party €24,000
    Leo Varadka €18,000
    Irish Farmers Journal €17,000
    Ulster Bank €11,000
    Ref Facebook Ad Library Report
    All advertisers should stop supporting hate, harassment, incitement to hatred and extremism on Facebook by stopping paying for adverts. They should send messages to Facebook that profits will never be worth supporting hate of any kind and look for offending posts, comments and groups to be removed.
    Facebook puts profit first and turn a blind eye to harmful content on their platform.

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