The five largest banking and credit organizations in Canada joined the international boycott of the social network Facebook, reports Reuters. Banks such as Scotiabank, RBC, CIBC, BMO and TD said they would freeze ads on the network platform for a month. The largest credit union federation of the country Desjardins Group joined the boycott, which will also suspend advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

In their statements, companies in various expressions claimed that systemic racism, which flourishes in North America (the USA and Canada), has disadvantaged black people, indigenous people, and other minorities, and organizations intend to fight this.

The boycott was organized by human rights institutions, including the Anti-Defamation League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. An action called #StopHateForProfit urges major brands and companies to stop working with social networks that allegedly take insufficiently diligent measures to combat the spread of propaganda of racism, violence and misinformation.

"Go ahead of the curve"

The #StopHateForProfit campaign claims that Facebook allows you to post on your platform calls for violence against participants in protests that have been taking place in the United States since late May.

The reason for the demonstrations and riots was captured on video on May 25 the death of an African American George Floyd during a police detention. Protesters oppose “systemic racism” and a culture of “white supremacy” that supposedly dominates the United States.

  • US protests
  • Reuters
  • © Brian Snyder

The campaign website indicates that the social network has verified news portals such as Breitbart News and Daily Caller, which allegedly "work with well-known white nationalists." At the same time, both of these portals are news publications targeted at supporters of the Republican Party and support President Trump.

The #StopHateForProfit website also claims that Facebook is involved in “suppression of suffrage” - in the United States, this refers to the restriction of the ability to vote for the poor, predominantly colored layers of the population through bureaucratic and other barriers.

It is worth noting that on the campaign portal, which was created by the Anti-Defamation League, the statements are declarative in nature and are not supported by any links or additional materials that would support the allegations made against Facebook.

Despite this, a number of large corporations, including clothing manufacturers such as Adidas, Reebok, Puma, North Face and Levi Strauss, food companies Coca-Cola, Unilever and Starbucks, as well as IT and mobile giants Microsoft, HP and Verizon, have joined boycott.

Many of them also removed their ads from the social network Instagram, which is a subsidiary of Facebook. According to American media, as of early July, more than 500 companies supported the boycott.

Meanwhile, analysts note that companies that have joined the campaign against Facebook, in fact, have no relation to the agenda that they promote by participating in the boycott, and do this solely in their own interests.

“They are ahead of the curve, demonstrate in advance the loyalty of the new ideology, because they understand that this can directly affect their profitability. In addition, if one or another brand is found to be politically incorrect, then consumers will stop buying such goods, as they may be subjected to violence, attacks on the streets, which has already happened in the USA, ”political analyst Alexander Asafov explained in a conversation with RT.

In addition, advertisers are monitoring the situation in the United States and are also afraid of being accused of political incorrectness if they do not publicly join the Facebook boycott, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, said in an interview with RT.

“In the USA there is excessive hysteria about this, and this leads to the fact that people are estranged from each other, the society does not feel comfortable. Hence the growth of such sentiments, the increase in expectations of violence. What is happening now demonstrates that companies are nervous, they cannot find the right line of behavior, ”says the expert.

He recalls that this problem is heated by the Democratic Party, 70-75% of the electorate of which is represented by various minorities.

“The policy on protection of rights should not cross objective boundaries, because it only incites hatred in society, which we are observing now. Most likely, the protest in its radical form will gradually weaken, but inside the American society it will still remain. The society will be split into two parts that speak different languages, ”the political scientist believes.

Political pressure

Meanwhile, Business Insider claims that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune for the week of the boycott from June 23 to 28 was reduced by $ 7 billion.

The billionaire himself said that, despite the boycott, Facebook does not intend to change the company's policy in the field of content distribution.

“We are not going to change our policy or approach to anything just because of the threat to a small percentage of our income or even a percentage of our income,” Zuckerberg said.

  • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Reuters
  • © Erin Scott

“You know, we do not fundamentally set the direction of our policy, based on the pressure exerted on us. It is worth saying that usually I think that if someone threatens you with something, you will find yourself in limited conditions under which, in a sense, it becomes even more difficult to do what they want from you. After all, then it will seem that you have surrendered, and for a long time others will have a desire to do [with you] in the same way, ”the Information publication quotes him.

Alexander Asafov believes that, despite a temporary drop in financial indicators, the social network will soon restore them.

“In the near future, Facebook, of course, will be in a difficult position, because the largest employers have turned away from it. But over time, this will all stop, they will establish interaction, ”the political scientist predicts.

The very process of discrediting sites where politically incorrect views may be published is part of a consistent campaign and the construction of a new ideology promoted by some multinational corporations and globalism advocates such as George Soros, Alexander Asafov believes.

“They have been building a foundation for quite a while on the agenda, where the rights and needs of ethnic and sexual minorities take first place. This was preparatory work, which successfully ended in riots in all the capitals of the world and the US states, ”the analyst concluded.