4th July, 2020
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Canada’s biggest lenders confirmed on Friday they had joined a widespread boycott of Facebook Inc. begun by U.S. civil rights groups.
The groups are seeking to pressure the world’s largest social media platform to take concrete steps to block hate speech.
More than 400 brands have pulled advertising on Facebook in response to the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign, begun after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Among Canadian lenders who have vowed to pause advertising on Facebook platforms in July are Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Desjardins Group, Canada’s largest federation of credit unions, also said on its website on Thursday it will pause advertising on Facebook and Instagram for the month “barring any exceptional situations where we need to communicate with our members or clients’’.
acebook has opened itself up to a civil rights audit and has banned 250 white supremacist organisations from Facebook and Instagram, a spokesman said by email.
Its investments in artificial intelligence mean it finds nearly 90 per cent of hate speech it takes action on before users report it, he added.
BMO said it is continuing its “ongoing dialogue with Facebook on changes they can make to their platforms to reduce the spread of hate speech’’.
RBC said one way to help clients and communities is to stand against “misinformation and hate speech, which only make systemic racism more pervasive’’.
Reuters/NAN