Is A Corporate Boycott on Facebook Enough?
The list of companies that are boycotting Facebook’s laissez-faire response to hate speech and misinformation continues to grow but is it enough? The Black Lives Matter has forced mainstream media, corporations, and individuals to reckon with white supremacy and racism in all aspects of popular culture. While white people are encouraged to learn about the systemic racism Black communities have endured for centuries, corporations are taking a stance on issues in a stronger way than seen before.
Enter Facebook.
In the last couple of years, Facebook has been criticized for its lack of action when it comes to ad placements. Facebook has refused to flag unverified claims made by politicians, the most famous one being President Donald Trump. It has also repeatedly failed to remove hate speech from its platform. As societal pressure mounts, corporations are taking a strong stance against white supremacy like Ben & Jerry’s and are in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement like Nike. It is no surprise that companies that already have a strained relationship with Facebook are deciding to boycott Facebook by pulling their ads off the platform. One of the largest and newest companies to boycott Facebook is Unilever but it’s not enough.
The ads that are being withheld shouldn’t be running in the first place. There is a large gap in representation in the media. A gap that is closing but not quickly enough. A recent study by Cannes Lions shows that only 18.2% percent of ads shown at Cannes Lions had Black characters compared to 61.4% of white character representation. Not only are Black characters not represented enough, when they are, but they also perpetuate negative stereotypes. The Cannes Lions study showed that white characters in ads were seen as smarter and were more likely to have a job in the ads compared to Black characters. “Advertising and marketing play an important role in selling whiteness. “They have played a role in perpetuating an image that whites are superior,” stated Judy Davis, a marketing professor at Eastern Michigan University, for the LA Times.
While companies stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on paper, they perpetuate racism in subtle ways visually. Companies should continue to boycott Facebook. They should scrap their current ads and hire Black creators to work on new ads that are based on equality and justice. American’s, in particular, the younger generations are looking at companies for drastic and long-term changes when it comes to social issues. The pressure is on, let’s see which companies are committed to the hard changes that are needed in the United States in order to dismantle racism.
