Facebook moderators say companies should avoid a 'PR stunt' by extending the ad boycott against the company

• Facebook moderators have called for the ad boycott against the company to be extended, according to The Guardian.
• Companies such as Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Unilever have participated in the boycott, which began in response to the company's decision not to take action against controversial posts from President Trump regarding the George Floyd protests.
• Despite the boycott, Facebook's ad revenue still grew in the second quarter of 2020, although its growth rate was lower than that of the first quarter.

Facebook moderators are calling for the giant ad boycott against the company — in which companies such as Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Adidas have participated — to be extended, according to a new report from The Guardian.

One moderator told the outlet that the boycott would be a "PR stunt that will pass" unless the movement lasted for an extended period of time. Another speaking to The Guardian was skeptical that the boycott will have any meaningful effect on the social media giant, which just posted better-than-expected daily user numbers and revenue growth in its most recent earnings report.

"It's good that their policies are getting attention," on moderator told The Guardian in July. "In this way, we all may benefit. But facing the attack they're retrenching, so it's hard to predict what's going to be the effect of this." Others, according to the report, expressed concern that calls for increased content moderation would put more of a burden on the moderators themselves, some of which are already grappling with PTSD from the job.

"We respect any brand's decision, and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information," a Facebook spokesperson said to Business Insider. "Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good."

Throughout the month of July, civil rights organizations asked advertisers to boycott Facebook after the company made a controversial decision not to take action against a post from President Trump regarding the George Floyd protests. The post in question included the phrase, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

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Facebook's choice has sent ripples throughout the company, prompting some employees to speak out or resign in protest. Companies such as Unilever, Verizon, Ford, and Ben & Jerry's have participated in the ad boycott.

Facebook, however, hasn't cited the boycott as having a major impact on its ad revenue. Facebook attributed any slowdown in ad revenue coming in the next quarter to other factors as well, such as macroeconomic uncertainty and a slowdown in usage compared to when lockdown orders were in place. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, also said the company agrees with the boycotters in standing against hate speech when speaking on the company's recent earnings call.

"We completely agree that we don't want hate on our platforms, and we stand firmly against it," she said. "We don't benefit from hate speech. We never have. Users don't want to see it. Advertisers don't want to be associated with it. And we've been working for a really long time to get better at finding it."