Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel has asked the Government Advertising Agency to review its advertising on Facebook saying he seeks to minimize it considerably, Channel 12 News reported Monday.
The move follows the #StopHateforProfit campaign launched on June 17 by a civil rights coalition comprising the Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, the Color of Change and others, calling on major corporations to pause their advertising on Facebook over the company's "repeated failure to meaningfully address the vast proliferation of hate on its platforms."
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Hundreds of companies heeded the call, including British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company Unilever, the company behind brands such as Ben & Jerry's and Dove, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, telecommunications company Verizon, the Hershey Company, Levi Strauss & Co, REI, The North Face, Patagonia, and Clorox, to name a few.
Government Advertising Agency functions as a Communications Group for various offices of government, corporations, government-owned companies and publicly-owned companies. Our Agency is responsible for numerous marketing processes that include public and social campaigns for a wide range of topics.
According to the report, Hendel has asked the GAA – which handles advertising for government ministries and state- and publicly-owned companies – to provide him with data on government advertising on Facebook and Google, including annual spending on these platforms compared to other advertising avenues.
Hendel's move is believed to be part of Israel's efforts to counter online delegitimization efforts waged against the Jewish state.
"We are seeing a rise in content calling for the delegitimization of Israel posted on leading global online platforms, and leading to expressions of hate and anti-Semitism," Hendel said.
"We must therefore exercise caution when advertising on social media platforms owned by companies that do not take effective action to remove and prevent posts containing incitement, false reports, and hate speech."
Facebook does not pay corporate taxes in Israel, nor is it subject to any regulation. Any move to limit the social giant's operations in Israel is likely to meet staunch opposition by political officials and financial entities.
Responding to the cooperate ad boycott, Carolyn Everson, vice president of Facebook's global business group, told CNN, "We deeply respect any brand's decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information.
"Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good."
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