Facebook made the news again in a bad way. This time, the brand is under fire for contributing to misinformation, violence, racism, and hate speech. Human rights groups accuse the company of turning a blind eye to the issues by not strictly policing offenders. Consequently, the #StopHateForProfit movement began. This campaign requests a social media advertising pause on Facebook and Instagram for the month of July. Incidentally, advertising revenue is Facebook’s bread and butter. Major brands rallied to the cause, including Canadian institutions like Lululemon, MEC, Arc’teryx, and all five major banks. Internationally, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Eddie Bauer, Levi Strauss, Mozilla, Unilever, Starbucks, and The North Face all signed up.
In response to the growing movement, The LEGO® Group released the following statement concerning all social media advertising:
We are committed to having a positive impact on children and the world they will inherit.
That includes contributing to a positive, inclusive digital environment free from hate speech, discrimination and misinformation.
We will take immediate steps to carefully review the standards we apply to advertising and engagement on global social media platforms. While we do that, we will pause all paid advertising on global social media platforms for at least 30 days.
We will not change our media investment during this period and instead, invest in other channels.
We will work to collaborate with our partners and take whatever steps are necessary to create a more trusted digital world for people today and future generations. We are confident solutions exist but urgent action is needed.Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer
For more LEGO® news, click here.
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