PlayStation Suspends Advertising on Facebook and Instagram, Joins #StopHateForProfit Campaign

PlayStation, Sony's flagship video game division, has become the latest major brand to join hundreds others as it temporarily stops advertising on Facebook and Instagram. As part of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, several global brands have suspended ads on the social media platforms, pressurising them into removing and reducing the amount of hate speech and negative content on there. The campaign has seen support from nearly 400 participants to date. PlayStation announced in a statement that the ad ban would last till the end of July.

“In support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, we have globally suspended our Facebook and Instagram activity, including advertising and non-paid content, until the end of July,” PlayStation said in a statement, to GamesIndustry.Biz. “We stand for working (and playing) together for good.”

Organised by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the New York-based Anti-Defamation League and several more non-profits, the protest boycott was launched after Facebook decided not to remove contentious posts by US President Donald Trump. A number of popular brands such as Coca-Cola, Honda, Unilever, Mozilla and Verizon have already announced that they won't be posting any advertisement on Facebook throughout the month of July.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seems unfazed by the ongoing protest. In a report by The Information, Zuckerberg was quoted saying that the boycott is more of a “reputational and a partner issue” and also remarked that “my guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.”

On the official page of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, the organisers suggest that Facebook “allowed incitement to violence” against people who raised their voice against the prevalent racial justice in the US. They also said that the social media giant has “turned a blind eye to blatant voter suppression.” They believe that since 99 percent of Facebook's earnings comes from advertising, companies should join the protest by pulling out ads from the platform.

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