06 August 2020
We are proud to announce that, along with our imprints Serpent’s Tail, Viper Books and Souvenir Press, we will be withdrawing all Facebook and Instagram advertising with immediate effect in line with the global Facebook boycott led by #StopHateforProfit.
The first UK publisher to publicly boycott advertising with the social media giant, Profile will join major organisations including Disney, Coca Cola, Starbucks and McDonalds.
MD Andrew Franklin said: ‘Facebook have done nothing to silence violent hate speak, anti-semitism or fake news. It allows manipulation of elections and ruins people’s lives – all to sell more advertising. This is all an anathema to us. With authors on our list like Shoshana Zuboff, whose The Age of Surveillance Capitalism tells of the dangerous power of tech giants like Facebook, and Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, we are well versed in the dangers involved and can’t stay silent. We urge every publisher in the UK to join us.’
Head of Social Media Flora Willis said: ‘While our ad spend might be meagre when compared with other brands joining the boycott, we hope that our decision will make help raise awareness in the UK publishing industry, encourage other publishers to do the same and have some impact, however small, on Facebook.’
#StopHateforProfit was set up by the ADL, NAACP and other civil rights groups. It calls on companies to stop advertising with Facebook in order to address the “hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence” prevalent on the platform. #StopHateforProfit last week announced they were extending the campaign past the month of July in the belief the movement will get bigger and more impactful.
Read #StopHateforProfit’s 10 recommendations for Facebook here: https://www.stophateforprofit.org/productrecommendations
Find out more about The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Find out more about Mindf*ck
For more information please contact Flora Willis at [email protected]