To say hate speech is having its moment on social media would be a dire understatement. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become breeding grounds for some of the most offensive content you can find online, and tragically, the purveyors of these sites have done little to solve the problem. However, with Facebook hemorrhaging more and more money with every advertiser that pulls out, could the company finally change its infamously neutral stance on hate? The campaign has been decidedly successful so far. As of this morning, the number of companies that have signed on is more than impressive, with a wide range of big name businesses pulling ads from Facebook for the foreseeable future, including: To start, the post is largely defensive, pointing out all the ways Facebook actually does stand up to hate speech on its platform, citing EU studies that make the company look as good as possible. Not a great look, Zuck. Additionally, Zuckerberg’s post outlined a few baby steps the company plans on taking to address voter suppression, misinformation, and of course hate speech. These policy changes include labeling “newsworthy” content, removing false voting information, and updating hate speech qualifications, and they apply to absolutely everybody. So essentially, Zuckerberg’s post boils down to more labels, more rules, and more Facebook-driven oversight, which is far from what advertisers are asking for. These small changes aren’t going to be enough to make anyone feel better, and if the pressure persists, it could lead to some real change. And that’s true. For many, the aggressive fights that play out in comment threads across the platform have fueled mass exits, depleting Facebook’s user base to a ‘mere’ two billion worldwide. However, to say there is “no incentive” on leaving hate speech alone is an outright lie, particularly when this commitment to free speech is specifically applied to advertisements. Given the fact that Facebook makes 99% of its $70 billion in annual revenue from ads, it’s safe to say additional restrictions, quite literally, represent a disincentive for Facebook to get rid of them. Now though, the incentive to take a stand on hate speech is a big one. The share price drop from the advertiser boycott represents a $56 billion market value hit for Facebook, and the campaign is gaining more steam than it’s losing. If this pressure keeps mounting, Zuckerberg could actually be forced to abandon his “free speech” crusade, making Facebook an “arbiter of truth” against his wishes.
