The television star Kim Kardashian West, actor Mark Ruffalo along with several other celebrities stated on Tuesday that they are 'freezing' their Facebook and Instagram accounts for a single day to protest the spread of the hate speech and also misinformation on the platforms.
The protest is happening on Wednesday, is a part of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which is a coalition of the civil rights groups, including the NAACP, Color of Change, and the Anti-Defamation League. This led a monthlong advertising boycott against Facebook in July after the death of George Floyd in the custody of the Minneapolis cop. Over 1,200 companies took part in the boycott, which included brands like Unilever, Verizon, Ford, and Adidas.
The coalition made an announcement on Monday that it was launching a week full of coordinated action on Instagram that includes a one-day freeze on Instagram sharting as well as a whole week series of posts, calling out Facebook for the rule in inciting violence, spreading hate, and racism and contributing to the electoral disinformation.
Kim Kardashian and Others Freeze Facebook Accounts
The protest gained widespread attention with a tweet from Kardashian, who is one of the most followed celebrities on Instagram and often gets paid for promoting products on her account. The star had mentioned that she has been offered as much as $1 million for a post.
"I love that I can connect directly with you through Instagram and Facebook, but 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," she posted on Twitter.
Facebook did not make any immediate response, as per the latest reports. Sacha Baron Cohen, who is an actor, comedian and has been an outspoken critic of the social media organizations also showed his support. "Facebook - stop spreading the hate, lies, and conspiracies that inflame our societies!", he posted. If the one day boycott will heed any results is a very big doubt. The social media platform has been subjected to various boycott for many years and few had long-term effects on the company.
