Unilever is halting ads on Facebook and Twitter in the US for the rest of 2020. It’s one of the biggest companies to pull ads over hate-speech concerns.

• Unilever said on Friday that it would halt ads on Facebook and Twitter in the US for the rest of 2020, saying the platforms needed to do much more to enforce policies about hate speech.
• It’s one of the biggest companies in recent weeks to announce plans to pull ads from social-media platforms over hate-speech concerns.
• A boycott campaign led by civil-rights groups in the past month has targeted Facebook, pressuring advertisers to pull ads until the platform strengthens enforcement against hate speech.
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Unilever said on Friday that it would stop advertising on Facebook and Twitter in the US for the rest of 2020, citing concerns that the platforms don’t do enough to remove hate speech.

The consumer-goods giant – which owns Dove, Lipton, Hellmann’s, Vaseline, and a slew of other brands – is one of the largest companies in recent weeks to announce plans to pull ads from social media over hate-speech concerns.

Civil-rights groups including the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP have led a boycott campaign targeting Facebook in the past month, pressuring advertisers to stop doing business with the company until it strengthens its enforcement of policies against hate speech and misinformation. Verizon, Patagonia, The North Face, and REI have joined the boycott.

Unilever said it was pulling ads from both Facebook and Twitter because of hate speech on the platforms leading up to the 2020 election, The Wall Street Journal first reported. It said it would also pull ads from Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

"There is much more to be done, especially in the areas of divisiveness and hate speech during this polarized election period in the U.S.," Unilever said in a statement, adding that "continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society."

A Unilever executive told The Journal that the company wanted Facebook and Twitter to reduce hate speech on the platforms and hire outside consultants to measure their progress.

Sarah Personette, Twitter's vice president for global client solutions, said in a statement to Business Insider that Twitter was "respectful" of Unilever's decision and was gathering feedback from ad partners.

"We have developed policies and platform capabilities designed to protect and serve the public conversation, and as always, are committed to amplifying voices from underrepresented communities and marginalized groups," Personette said. "We are respectful of our partners' decisions and will continue to work and communicate closely with them during this time."

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.