Companies boycott advertisements in Facebook

Facebook shares fell 8.3% Friday, as most of the top brands including Unilever, one of the world’s largest advertisers, joined other brands in boycotting ads on the platform.

Post decision of Unilever to move out , more than 90 marketers - including Coca-Cola, Honda and Hershey are among the latest high-profile companies to say they will temporarily stop advertising with Facebook. Unilever, the company behind brands like Dove and Lipton, and Verizon had announced earlier they would join the boycott organized by civil rights groups have announced their intention to pause advertising on Facebook since civil-rights groups including the Anti-Defamation League and NAACP called on brands to pull ad spending from Facebook for July.

There are now more than 120 companies participating in the boycott, according to a spreadsheet tracking the names. Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. We will take this time to reassess our advertising policies to determine whether revisions are needed. We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners.

Mark Zuckerberg responded to the growing criticism about misinformation on Facebook, announcing the company would label all voting-related posts with a link encouraging users to look at its new voter information hub.

The share-price drop eliminated $56 billion from Facebook’s market value and pushed Zuckerberg’s net worth down to $82.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That also moved the Facebook chief executive officer down one notch to fourth place, overtaken by Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault, who was elevated to one of the world’s three richest people along with Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

Zuckerberg responded Friday to the growing criticism about misinformation on the site, announcing the company would label all voting-related posts with a link encouraging users to look at its new voter information hub. Facebook also expanded its definition of prohibited hate speech, adding a clause saying no adverts will be allowed if they label another demographic as dangerous.