Facebook will prohibit hate speech in ads, no matter where it comes from: Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday that the social media company will be changing its policies and will prohibit hate speech in all advertisements.

Zuckerberg said that under its new policies, Facebook will ban all ads that target people of a particular race, ethnicity, nationality, caste, immigration origin, gender and sexual orientation and brand them as threats to anyone’s physical safety and health.

The CEO added that while he is committed to making sure Facebook remains a safe place for people to use their voice and discuss important issues, he also stands against hate and anything that incites violence and/or suppresses voting. He added that targeted ads will be removed from the platforms no matter where they come from.

Zuckerberg also added that Facebook will do more to protect refugees, immigrants, migrants and those seeking asylum from all ads that suggest that people like these are inferior to others and ads that show contempt or disgust and dismiss them on any ground.

These comments from the Facebook CEO came after almost 100 brands announced they would be pulling their ads off Facebook for July as a part of the #StopHateForProfit movement. This movement has been started against Facebook’s repeated failure to address hate on its platforms.

Advertisers who have pulled out from Facebook for July include Verizon, Unilever, The North Face, Patagonia, REI, Lending Club etc. Zuckerberg has not directly addressed this ad boycott but Facebook’s stock closed down 8.3% on Friday.

The CEO also announced on Friday that if content has been allowed to stay on the platform despite violating some of the polices, because it is newsworthy and of public interest, Facebook will be labeling them. Users who may try to share that content will see a prompt that tells that the content they are trying to share may violate the company’s policies.

Twitter practices something similar.

Zuckerberg explained his decisions in the Facebook post (above) and added that “there is no newsworthiness exemption to content that incites violence or suppresses voting. Even if a politician or government official says it, if we determine that content may lead to violence or deprive people of their right to vote, we will take that content down. Similarly, there are no exceptions for politicians in any of the policies I'm announcing here today”.