Action: Email Criteo about Townhall.com

Climate Week action, day 1

Hey team,

Welcome to Climate Week! Every day through Friday, we're sending you the contact information for an ad network that's helping fund Townhall.com, a top climate change disinformation outlet. We need to email the ad companies. Let's ask them to review these accounts according to their own supply policies. (Read more about the overall effort, and why we're focusing on Townhall, in this week's Branded.)

Today's action target: Criteo

According to Criteo’s environmental sustainability commitment, “the backlash of climate change on our lives can no longer be ignored.” Criteo’s Supply Partner Guidelines prohibit display ads containing content that “shares mistruths and falsehoods” or “is intentionally designed to shock or horrify the user or generate attention through intentionally misleading or grotesque claims."

So… why are they funding Townhall? Let's ask them! Below you'll find email addresses and a template to do exactly that. Copy and paste our suggested text, or write your own.

We're trying something new this time: Click here to open an email with everything pre-filled, just add your name to the bottom. Let us know if it works for you — unfortunately, it won't work for everyone.

If that didn't work, or you'd like to do it manually, copy and paste the below to their respective fields:

TO:

[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]

SUBJECT:

Please stop funding Townhall.com's climate disinformation

BODY:

I'm reaching out to find out if Criteo plans to continue placing ads on Townhall.com, despite the site running flagrantly afoul of your company's environmental commitments and partner guidelines.

According to your environmental sustainability commitment, “the backlash of climate change on our lives can no longer be ignored.” Your own Supply Partner Guidelines prohibit display ads containing content that “shares mistruths and falsehoods” or “is intentionally designed to shock or horrify the user or generate attention through intentionally misleading or grotesque claims."

Townhall.com website publishes tons of columnists with far-out views. Many of them are climate deniers — 46 of them are listed in climate watchdog DeSmog’s disinformation database.

A Center for Countering Digital Hate report found the site is in the top tier among 10 fringe publishers responsible for nearly 70% of Facebook user interactions with denying climate change.

Yet you are connecting Townhall.com to the advertising supply chain, enabling the spread of its climate disinformation. And Townhall Media isn't just one site, it’s part of a sprawling networking of hate speech and disinformation websites, including:

• Bearing Arms
• Hot Air
• Instapundit
• PJ Media
• RedState
• Twitchy

Do you plan to continue funding climate disinformation? If you do not, you can drop Townhall's seller ID, B-061240.

Thank you,

[Your Name]

Please let us know if you hear back from them! They will be reading your emails and figuring out what the hell to do about all this.

Hugs,

Claire and Nandini