Facebook is under fire. Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio were among the famous celebrities participating in a 24-hour “freeze” on Instagram on Wednesday to protest against Facebook’s failure to address violent and hateful content and misinformation about elections.
Stars and influencers from Hollywood are supporting the “#StopHateforProfit” movement’s latest campaign which encourages people to put up a message highlighting the damage Facebook does but otherwise refrain from posting on Instagram for a day.
“I can’t sit by and stay silent while these platforms continue to allow the spreading of hate, propaganda and misinformation – created by groups to sow division and split America apart – only to take steps after people are killed,” Kardashian West posted on her Instagram account on Tuesday.
Facebook refused to comment but pointed to recent announcements about what it is doing to limit the reach of its November U.S. election platform of groups supporting violence and its efforts to protect the U.S. election.
The organisers behind “# StopHateforProfit,” including civil rights groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, and Color Of Change, had previously led a campaign to join a Facebook ad boycott in July with hundreds of brands and non-profits.
DiCaprio said he was standing with the civil rights groups, calling on all Instagram and Facebook users to protest against hate amplification, racism and the undermining of democracy on those platforms.
Facebook, which earned nearly $70 billion in advertising revenue last year, is facing a reckoning over what critics call indefensible excuses for amplifying divisions, hate and misinformation on their platforms.
The movement also singled out for criticism Facebook’s handling of online material ahead of the shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin last month. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company made a mistake for not removing a page belonging to a militia group that called for armed civilians to enter the city sooner.
The page was only taken down after 2 people were killed by an armed teenager after violent protests sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by police.
