Dear John,

We launched #StopHateforProfit as a last resort...

As part of our historic fight against antisemitism, racism and extremism, we have seen how online extremism doesn’t just stop with hateful words in digital forums. It festers, it grows, and that online poison can lead to online harassment, and even to physical incidents, including attacks.

We founded our Center for Technology and Society in 2016 to make sure that companies that work in the online world understand this, and to call for action when platforms are misused to spread hate. As part of that effort, ADL has met with Facebook dozens of times to discuss issues of antisemitism, hate and extremism. But the appalling content has continued to spread on their platform: Holocaust denial, bigotry, xenophobia and malicious conspiracy theories.

And we haven’t been the only ones angered by this. Facebook is the most successful advertising platform in the world, but many businesses have been frustrated to see their ads run alongside hateful messages. They too have been unable to get Facebook to favor values over revenue and to recognize that Facebook has both the power and duty to address hate and misinformation on their own platform. As Sacha Baron Cohen quoted at our Never Is Now Summit on Antisemitism and Hate last year in New York, “Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach.”

So, when we and our partner organizations in #StopHateforProfit, including the NAACP, Color of Change, Common Sense and others, began asking companies to take a 30-day advertising pause on Facebook throughout the month of July, the response grew and grew. More companies are rallying to join #StopHateforProfit every day!

Unilever, Verizon, Hershey’s, Honda, Levi’s, Best Buy, Chobani, KIND, Coca Cola, The North Face and Patagonia are just a few of the companies big and small that are signing on. You can see if the businesses you support are supporting the #StopHateforProfit movement here.

They are voting with their ad budgets to urge Facebook to take 10 clear steps to change by improving accountability, valuing decency and supporting individuals. These steps aren’t that complicated: victims of harassment should be able to connect with a live Facebook employee; Facebook should close down large groups dedicated to hate or violent conspiracies (some have more than 100,000 members!); and Facebook should stop affirmatively recommending users join hateful groups. Since this ad pause campaign began just a few weeks ago, Facebook has lost billions of dollars in stock value.

Thanks to #StopHateforProfit, we finally got Facebook’s attention. Facebook representatives have been calling advertisers. Their CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, held a town hall on Friday. The company sent out a note to some of their advertisers with updates. And Facebook representatives are speaking to just about every press outlet under the sun.

Unfortunately, these changes are insufficient, and do not take the simple next steps we are recommending. We don’t expect that Facebook will be perfect in all cases and every time. Rather, adopting these steps would mean that the company is serious about addressing businesses’ and society’s concerns.

You Can Take Action to Make it Happen!

As part of the ADL community, you play a vital role in helping us fulfill our mission of stopping the defamation of the Jewish people and securing justice and fair treatment to all. Now is the perfect time for Facebook to hear your message that enough is enough. Tell them to stop providing a home for antisemitism, racism and extremism. Sign the petition to #StopHateforProfit now, then spread the word on Facebook and other social platforms.

Thank you for being a part of #StopHateforProfit, and demanding change for good.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Greenblatt

CEO and National Director

ADL