Clorox To Halt Facebook Ads Through Year End, Joining Advertiser Push On Content

By Micah Maidenberg 

Clorox Co. said it would temporarily stop advertising on Facebook Inc., joining a parade of other companies that have moved to halt ad spending on the social-media giant over how it has handled speech on its platforms.

The company behind its namesake cleaning supplies, Kingsford charcoal and other consumer brands said Monday that it is pausing buying ads on Facebook through December to take action against what it said was hate speech, "which we believe will increase through the balance of the year."

"This creates an increasingly unhealthy environment for people and our purpose-driven brands," Clorox said in a statement about its decision.

A Clorox spokesperson said the pause in spending is global and covers the main Facebook platform as well as the company's Instagram unit.

A Facebook spokeswoman didn't have a comment regarding Clorox's decision, but said the social-media company invests billions each year to ensure safety and continuously works with outside experts to review and update its policies.

The company has banned 250 white supremacist organization from Facebook and Instagram, she said, adding that artificial intelligence allows Facebook to find close to 90% of hate speech before users report it.

Last week, Unilever PLC, the consumer-products company behind Dove soap, Hellmann's mayonnaise and other items, said it would halt ad spending on Facebook and Twitter Inc. for at least the remainder of the year, pointing to hate speech and other divisive content.

Coca-Cola Co. announced a wider pause on Friday, saying it would temporarily halt spending on all social-media platforms for 30 days.

Other companies have also moved to boycott Facebook for varying lengths of time.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has said the company was making further changes to its platform. Facebook will add labels to certain posts and forbid advertisements that claim specific groups of people pose threats to the physical safety, health or survival of others, according to a Facebook post from Mr. Zuckerberg on Friday.

Civil-rights groups had pushed advertisers to pull advertising spending on Facebook for July to protest what they said was the company's failure to halt hate speech and misinformation on its platform.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2020 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT)

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