More than 180 major brands in the United States and Europe, such as Unilever and Coca-Cola, have decided to suspend their advertising campaigns on Facebook, to denounce the laxity of the social network regarding racist and hate speech. The network created by Mark Zuckerberg is much more criticized than its competitors Twitter or Instagram. The explanations of Romain Badouard, lecturer at Universiré Paris 2 and researcher at the French Press Institute.

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More than 180 major brands in the United States and Europe have joined the hashtag #StopHateForProfit, "stop hate for profit", and have decided to suspend their advertising investments on Facebook. Their objective is to denounce the laxity of the social network regarding racist and hateful remarks.

"In the current context, it is obvious that there is a share of communication on the part of these big brands, who seek to buy a good conscience. But we realize that the power of advertisers in the advertising markets produces effects ", analyzed Romain Badouard, lecturer at Paris 2 University and researcher at the French Press Institute, on Wednesday morning on Europe 1." What interests brands today is that their advertisements are broadcast in a peaceful environment, "he added.

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Facebook, a network of two billion users

The Unilever group, which weighs 50 billion euros, has decided to go further by stopping its campaigns on Facebook, but also on Instagram and Twitter until the end of the year. But this is an exception, because other brands prefer to focus on Facebook. "Facebook crystallizes critics as much because it is the most popular social network, with more than two billion users. It is also a completely international network, unlike Instagram and Twitter. If it is targeted, it is also because it is he who generates the most advertising revenue. 98% of Facebook's turnover is generated by online advertising. It is therefore a symbolic action lever for these brands ", develops Romain Badouard .

Under media and political pressure, Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook boss, announced urgently to ban more hateful content in advertisements and add warnings to problematic publications he leaves online. But these announcements did not really convince. "The issue of moderation of content is creating controversy within Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg is no longer unanimous in his business," concludes Romain Badouard.