MeloTel has always stood for justice and equality. Under no circumstances whatsoever do we agree with any form of racism, hatred or bigotry. Shortly after the tragic murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May, MeloTel affirmed its strong stance in an official statement. However, the fight for justice and equality requires a lot more than simply expressing our views. It requires action.
It is not at all lost on us that there is still much work to be done in order to see a true sense of respect and humanity shown people from all walks of life. This is why MeloTel is proudly joining the #StopHateForProfit campaign during the month of July. Specifically, that means MeloTel will be ceasing all paid ads on Facebook.
Why is #StopHateForProfit targeting Facebook?
As protests emerged all over the world, following Floyd’s murder, many people took to Facebook to incite violence against the protesters. Facebook did absolutely nothing to stop these venomous expressions of hate and intolerance. As a result, it’s time to hit Facebook where it hurts – the pocket. As StopHateForProfit.org explains, 99 percent of Facebook’s revenue – to the tune of $70 million – comes from advertising.
You too can join the fight against racism, hatred and bigotry by boycotting Facebook all July long. The #StopHateForProfit movement is asking all businesses to stand in solidarity to support freedom, equality and justice. You can support this cause simply by not advertising on Facebook in July.
As the #StopHateForProfit website points out, Facebook “allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others. They (also) named Breitbart News a ‘trusted news source’ and made The Daily Caller a ‘fact checker’ despite both publications having records of working with known white nationalists.”
The #StopHateForProfit campaign was founded on June 17.
It was launched by civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League. It calls upon businesses to join an advertising boycott of Facebook. As Jemima McEvoy notes on Forbes.com, the campaign has very successfully taken off. She reports that such large companies as Target, Best Buy, Pfizer and Volkswagen have announced they will not work with Facebook until “meaningful action” is taken to address misinformation and hate speech.
The current list of boycotters is a who’s-who of brand names. Ford, Adidas, Clorox, Chobani, Patreon, Madewell, Conagara Brands, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Honda, Hershey’s, Verizon, Ben & Jerry’s, HP, Levi Strauss, Lululemon, Birchbox and Denny’s have all joined the Facebook boycott.
How has Facebook responded to the boycott?
“As the list continues to grow, Facebook has tried to mitigate damage, reportedly giving an ‘upbeat’ presentation to advertisers and agency executives last week and announcing Friday a new policy to begin labeling posts from politicians that violate its policies, but are still newsworthy,” reveals McEvoy, “Despite this action, Facebook saw its shares fall by more than 10 percent Monday with a new survey predicting that one-third of top advertisers will soon join the social media boycott.”
MeloTel is very pleased to join the list of Facebook boycotters. We echo the sentiments of #StopHateForProfit: “Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, anti-semitism and violence.”
