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As reported in Reuters, the organizers of an advertising boycott campaign against Facebook, which is supported by a growing list of big brands, are now preparing to act globally to increase pressure on the social media giants to eliminate hate speech.

Hate speech in and of itself is a minefield. First, no one can define it with an accuracy that goes beyond the obviously obvious calls for violence and racist epithets. Even Facebook's own definition is highly subjective and full of contradictions. Here's an example: "Sometimes people share content that contains someone else's hate speech to raise awareness or educate others. In some cases, words or terms that might otherwise violate our standards are used in a self-referential or empowering manner."

However, as global consumer awareness is based on racial equality and other important social issues, people are pushing brands to take the lead to be part of the change that so many people around the world are demonstrating and protesting to achieve this ( and that too) governments have proven to be absolutely incapable of doing this. Last Friday, Unilever was the largest company committed to spending advertising on the platform – not just for July, as the boycott provides, but for the rest of 2020.

In response, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reversed his original stance last Friday afternoon, saying that the company would "start marking posts that it believes are current but that also violate its policies," although it does not all recommendations of the boycott fulfilled.

In a recent Bob Hoffman newsletter that has been alarming on Facebook for years, he reminds us of what he said in 2018. "… While Facebook is being demonized, we are thinking of who is funding all these dirty activities – it's the display industry. It is the money that we keep putting into Facebook that makes all of these problems possible. If we had an ounce of responsibility, we would say "no more". But of course we don't. We just hide behind Facebook's skirts and let them take the hits. "

Some of the world's leading brands are no longer hiding.

And when big brands like Patagonia, Honda and Verizon join the boycott, they may put pressure on other brands to do the same. These larger brands account for more than a quarter of Facebook's $ 70 billion in advertising revenue. And on Friday, Facebook's 8.3% drop in price wiped out its $ 56 billion market cap.

As if Patagonia had answered Hoffman's assembly cry directly, he said in a series of tweets: "From safe elections to a global pandemic to racial justice, too much is at stake to sit back and the company continues to spread disinformation and the Causing complicity and hatred. With businesses across the country working hard to ensure that Americans have free and fair elections in the fall, we cannot be ready and provide resources to businesses that contribute to the problem. "

The boycott is even shifting to other platforms, which has an impact on users. Many on Twitter who are conservative are migrating to a new platform called Parler, which seems to support the legal interpretation of the American First Amendment.

With some of the big brands taking a break from Facebook, small and medium-sized brands could have the opportunity to get higher ROI on the platform due to less competition and lower prices. But I advise caution. Facebook has come under fire for many things that are doing it wrong. We should expect increased regulation, but changes in public order will be slow, especially in a very political and partisan era. Some brands are not waiting for new rules. They create new rules through the power of their actions. Whether Facebook adapts to the new rules has to be considered.

Finally, it should be noted that although Facebook has a loose definition of hate speech, brands have a well-defined one. Knowing what you stand for as a brand is not enough – you have to know clearly what you stand against and make decisions at the interface of the two. Passive brands and their leadership teams are pushed aside, while activist brands like Patagonia secure their place at the top.

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