The Sussexes are supporting the ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ boycott of Facebook

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (C) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (L) stand with Canada's High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom, Janice Charette, as they leave after their visit to Canada House in thanks for the warm Canadian hospitalit

For years now, we’ve known that Facebook, more than any other social media platform, has allowed hatred and hate speech to gain momentum and flourish. Facebook has also allowed political agents, data mining and foreign entities to push propaganda and bonkers conspiracies for years. Facebook isn’t alone, of course – there are plenty of Birthers, Mask Truthers, Nazis and Russian agents on Twitter and other platforms too. But unlike other platforms, Mark Zuckerberg has done nothing about it. He’s actually done worse than nothing – he’s argued against setting any kind of moderator or check on the propaganda agents flourishing on Facebook.

All of which is why the Stop Hate For Profit campaign has sprung up – the campaign has petitioned companies and corporations to stop or pause advertising on Facebook for a month or longer. The campaign is being promoted by Color of Change, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League. Verizon, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Procter & Gamble have already signed on to the campaign and have announced that they’re withdrawing their ad buys for July. Facebook’s stock is down and Zuckerberg has lost a lot on paper. The campaign is getting a lot of heat and attention. And now this: Axios was the first to report that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been “privately advocating” for the campaign. Omid Scobie at Harper’s Bazaar confirmed the news. Some highlights:

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirms to BAZAAR.com that Harry and Meghan are backing the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, which is calling for a global boycott of Facebook advertising over the company’s repeated failure to address hateful and racist content as well as misinformation on the platform. The Sussexes are throwing their weight behind the movement and have been working to encourage CEOs to stand in solidarity with the coalition of U.S. civil rights groups behind it.

“As we’ve been developing Archewell, one of the areas The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been keen to address is online hate speech, and we’ve been working with civil rights and racial justice groups on it,” a source close to the couple tells BAZAAR.com. “Over the past few weeks, in particular, this issue has become even more vital and they have been working to encourage global CEOs to stand in solidarity with a coalition of civil and racial justice groups like the NAACP, Color of Change, and the Anti-Defamation League, which are calling for structural changes to our online world.”

A source working closely with the pair adds, “For a long time, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been working on how to move the tech industry in a more humane direction–this includes their longstanding advocacy for supporting mental health in the social media era, which was a key focus of a visit they convened at Stanford University back in February, and is also fundamentally connected to what they are building into their new organization Archewell…. A common thread in these conversations was about how online platforms have created the conditions for hatred, bigotry, radicalism, and violence to grow and spread.”

A Sussex source says that the couple believe “there is an urgent and pressing need to remodel the framework of our online public spaces in a way that is defined more by compassion than hate; by truth instead of misinformation; by equity and inclusiveness instead of injustice and fear-mongering; free, not weaponized, speech. [They] have been working behind the scenes to urge global CEOs to stand in solidarity with civil rights and racial justice leaders. They’ve spoken with CEOs across the product spectrum; tech and media, consumer goods, food and beverage, apparel, and others.”

While an official launch for Archewell isn’t likely to happen until 2021, this issue will be one of several at the heart of the Sussexes’ non-profit. “This,” adds the source, “is their organization is motion; they are committed to dealing with the here and now, the right now, and the long-term.”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

Once again, I sort of wish the Sussexes did have some kind of social media account right now so they could explain it themselves, but I get it. Why do an Instagram post about it when A) Facebook owns Instagram and B) they can just call up Omid Scobie and get their story out. And I guess they spoke to Axios too. Which is interesting! I mean, it’s worth noting that the Sussexes are NOT a business and they’re not advertising on any platform. I would be curious to know how exactly they’re supporting the campaign other than “morally” and “verbally.” Are they actually calling up CEOs? I’d really like to know!

Harry amd Meghan Endeavour.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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44 Responses to “The Sussexes are supporting the ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ boycott of Facebook”

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  1. Jess says:

    Watch the cambridges attach themselves/take credit for all the work theyre doing

    • ABritGuest says:

      Jess didn’t William have a cyber bullying task force? I remember he did a big speech calling SM giants them to task but not heard much since. TBH would have been worth still tackling this because of the COVID misinformation spread on SM has been a big issue but oh well.

      Yes the various articles I’ve seen said Harry& Meghan have been contacting CEOs of companies across various sectors about this campaign. Some big companies have agreed to stop or pause paid advertising on Facebook platforms& Zuckerberg has already announced some changes but hope he’s pressed to make real valuable change.

      • Harla says:

        Yes he did but quit when it became too difficult. This is a monster cause to take on, with so many tentacles, but I believe that the Harry and Meghan aren’t afraid of the hard work it will take to see real change and will devote their time and energy to seeing progress made.

      • notasugarhere says:

        William ‘quit’ because his anti-bullying ‘work’, just like his anti-racism ‘work’, is always for PR and PR only. He accomplishes nothing and never intends to.

    • notasugarhere says:

      W&K attaching themselves to anything related to bullying is meaningless. He bullied his younger brother his entire life. Kate bullied other girls for years, including the Yorks, in her quest to land cheater William. Plus W&K stans are the biggest bullies in the royal fandom, have been for years. W&K could make a simple statement about that; they don’t because they benefit from those trolls attacking critics, Harry & Meghan, etc.

      • ABritGuest says:

        I agree Nota. Just found it interesting that William had that social media task force which seems to have gone nowhere after his big speech in 2018, even though cyber bullying, spread of misinformation etc remains a pressing issue. Whereas Stop Hate for Profit campaign (and to be fair helped by this current climate) seems to have got brands to directly engage& has forced some change to policies already.

        And yes I don’t think I’ve seen anything like the trolling with Meghan especially for someone who has no impact on anybody’s every day life like eg a politician. It’s unfathomable to stoop so low to attack charities just because she’s connected to them.

    • Bella DuPont says:

      Wouldn’t it be amazing if the Sussexes could team up with a Silicon Valley/Tech company that could creat a proprietary social media product or platform to rival Facebook/Twitter etc that works *specifically* to address trolling, bullying and online hate? I would sign up so f-cking fast…..I’ve long thought they could do a lot of explosive things in the tech space that would also be incredibly lucrative for them. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

      • June-o says:

        If she’s still good friends with Serena and by extension Alexis Ohanian, who has just freed up some time by stepping down from Reddit, that could actually work!

  2. Sam says:

    Their spokesman said Harry and Meghan have been calling CEOs

    • YT says:

      Harry and Meghan certainly have the name recognition and contacts to get through to CEO’s.

  3. Priscila Bezerra-Fischer says:

    Since Meghan herself was the victim of such campaigns and saw how social media can be used to spread nefarious agenda, I can see why they would be making an effort to spread the word about this campaign. I think it is mentioned they are calling CEO´s but they are already drawing attention to facebook as a place where people should not exactly feel safe these days.

    I noticed that two years ago and deleted my account.

    • Love says:

      I’m like you. I deleted Facebook in 2011 and gave never looked back. Granted I do have Instagram.

      I LOVE that H&M don’t have social media at the moment. It makes the work they’re doing more about the charities or organisations or campaigns they’re supporting ❤️

      Also, they’re highlighting news organisations that do “decent” reporting, which has always been their problem with the media. They’ve exposed me to so many more news sources, opening my mind.

      (Also Kaiser, thanks for explaining the history of the campaign.)

      • Still_Sarah says:

        @ Love : I wonder if H&M aren’t starting up a new Instagram page for their charity work because they are hoping somehow to get Sussex Royal back. It is such a great brand name and image and had over 10 million followers when it was active. It’s been many months since they were told to stop using it but I noticed it is still up on Instagram although not being added to obviously.

  4. S808 says:

    I think someone said they’ve been having discussions with CEO’s across different industries. This is a good campaign. The best way to get these platforms to take action is to hit them where it hurts— their pockets. Not surprised the Sussexes have offered their support given their history with trolls and hate speech they’ve been subjected to on Twitter and instagram. I can see them not coming back until real action is taken to minimize the hate. I can see this being one of their focuses with Archewell.

    • Edna says:

      Civil rights organizations have held many meetings and discussions with Zuckerberg and have grown extremely frustrated with his resistance and inaction to implement change for the better. It’s been described as talking to a brick wall. Even Facebook employees have called Zuckerberg out on this issue. Well, let’s hope these companies that have been touting support for BLM, put there money where their mouths are and support Stop Hate for Profit Campaign. In America, it seems money is the only thing that can bring about real change.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Have you seen SM trolls are attacking the charities for whom Harry and Meghan volunteer? The platforms have a responsibility to shut it down but they refuse to.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Nota – its really gross. I am not a fan of Kate, but I’m not going to criticize her on the EACH Instagram account (I don’t even criticize her on the KP IG account. I spend all my energy here, lol.) But how obsessed must you be to hate someone so much that you criticize the charities????

        i’m actually nervous about some of the Cambridge stans on twitter, they’re a little unhinged.

  5. Edna says:

    Several organizations (NAACCP, Color of Change) have tweeted their thanks to the Sussexes for getting involved and contacting CEOs in support of the campaign. They seem to be doing a great deal behind the scenes and a great job of influencing CEOs to take action. I think the low key behind the scenes work suits them best. And I hope they don’t rush back to having a social media presence. The haters can’t get at them as easily.

    • Astrid says:

      +1

    • ArtHistorian says:

      It is becoming very clear that Harry and Meghan wants to effect real change in the world on a large scale – a much larger scale that the BRF is comfortable with. They were completely hampered by the strictures of the BRF and their odd position in Britain as an “officially” apolitical institution. Harry and Meghan taking steps to influence companies directly for this cause would have been unheard of in a royal context. Their ambitions are larger than the BRF and now they are free to do more than being patrons of various organizations (which is a valuable thing but it is so often reduced to pure photo ops in the hands of the BRF). Now they can be more effective in effecting change (while still supporting and highlighting the work of local projects/orgs) and it is interesting to how they are going forward.

      So is the launch of Archewell pushed to 2021?

      • Lilly (with the double-L) says:

        Agreed @ArtHistorian. It’s wonderful to see how they can spread their wings and support in each other what brought them together in shared ideals. Now the BRF needs to stop being the trolling, obsessive ex and get on with infighting themselves into further insignificance.

      • Still_Sarah says:

        @ ArtHistorian : I agree H&M could never really expand their roles while still royals. The BRF are figureheads or tokens – they haven’t had real power for centuries. My parents were from Britain and my mother especially revered the queen but even I am amazed the BRF still gets as much attention as they do. But I worry that H&M could lose what makes them special if they move too far towards the celebrity category while living in LA.

      • ABritGuest says:

        Still_Sarah royals are the ultimate celebrities. The British royal family have done BTS documentaries of their lives (how different is that banned doc from keeping up with the Kardashian’s?), some are only known for their jewellery, fashion& hair dos or gossip about who they are sleeping with and not their work.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Still_Sarah, it isn’t like Harry and Meghan were asking to do something unusual. They were asking to do their charity work while not having credit and funds they raised stolen by W&K. To represent the Queen without having to run everything by the racist and abusive Royal Rota. W&K are useless and lazy, but not all members of the BRF or other royals are that way.

        Charles has accomplished a huge amount while Prince of Wales, including The Prince’s Trust, one of the largest charities in the UK. It is also international.

        Prince Philip’s Duke of Edinburgh’s award is in over 100 countries.

        Princess Charlene’s swimming charity has helped 300,000 located in a dozen countries.

        Queen Silvia of Sweden created the World Childhood Foundation to combat child s e x trafficking around the globe. It has offices in 4-5 countries.

        Queen Maxima works extensively with the UN on microfinance. Queen Letizia works with the UN on nutrition and rare diseases. CP Mary of Denmark works with the UN on FGM and she has a new role as a European patron for Global PRIDE. CP Mette-Marit used to work with the UN on HIV/AIDS issues until her health declined. The future monarchs of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have worked together for years on international environmental issues.

  6. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    And now, the righteous and crucified right are sprinting to a new social website dubbed “Parler,” where they can’t be censored — free to post whatever vile vitriol they desire. Funny how the posting rules mimic every store that’s ever existed.

    • SomeChick says:

      I bet you they all pronounce it “parlour” instead of “parlay” too.

      TBH if they all actually leave FB and the nicer folks stay, that could be some positive change right there.

      I’m torn about leaving, myself, because it is the only way I have to contact some of my friends and fam. Hopefully something else will appear. I just heard about MeWe and intend to check it out as a possible place to shift to.

      • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

        I hear you. I quit a long time ago, but I have a couple friends I text with continue to periodically ask me to get back on just for them lol. To this day, I still remember deleting my account (they don’t make it super easy lol), that was years ago, and it felt like I was a Westerosi slave being asked by Bran the Broken to manage the reconstruction of Kingslanding as Sir Never Again A Slave with a huge salary and a castle. 😁

        Okay maybe not THAT great.

  7. Blanca says:

    I love them more and more.

  8. Izzy says:

    I lost count of the number of times I have reported blatantly anti-Semitic content on FB only to be told it doesn’t violate their standards. I can only assume their standards are somewhere below “sewer with a homicidal clown in it.”

    • L4frimaire says:

      Facebook definitely has double standards. A lot of people were banned or suspended for calling out misogyny and racism, while racist and sexists posts were allowed to stay up. Facebook and Zuckerberg been called before Congress a few times about their platform and they did nothing, Only now that it’s hitting them in their wallet are they thinking about any type of change, especially to their inaccurate political content. Glad Harry and Meghan are lending their support because so much hate on Facebook and IG targets Meghan. This has been an ongoing issue with Facebook and many civil rights and political organizations have been calling them out for years. Glad this is happening because they are considered a news source and should be more accountable.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        “Facebook definitely has double standards. A lot of people were banned or suspended for calling out misogyny and racism, while racist and sexists posts were allowed to stay up. ” That’s abusive of them, and even worse than just deciding not to GAF either way about how facebook is used. Time’s up on that for sure.

    • MaryContrary says:

      It is completely insane to me that Zuckerberg, who’s a Jew married to a Chinese-American doctor, could be SO blatantly willing to overlook all of this. Ugh.

    • Kristin says:

      Izzy: Okay, I realize this is a very serious subject that I fully support, but “sewer with a homicidal clown in it” is going to have me cracking up all day:)!!

  9. Ginger says:

    This is wonderful. I have reported so many Meghan hate accounts on Instagram and nothing happens but a fan account gets randomly shut down. It’s frustrating.

    This also makes me think Harry and Meghan will go after these hate accounts now that they are free.

  10. Sofia says:

    I’m not surprised they’re supporting it considering they’ve dealt with hate on social media.

  11. TheAnonymousPimpernel says:

    Axios had the story because various organizations tweeted the news. Harry and Meghan didn’t call Omid, Omid confirmed with their spokesperson and wrote his article. Omid is not an inner circle Sussex source but it sure will help book sales with so many believing he is.

    • L4frimaire says:

      I first saw this news reported on Axios and NAACP. I assumed a Bazaar was just reporting on it after it was already out.

  12. Lily says:

    I love that the usual narrative of contacting top companies is now changed to contacting top CEO’s. lol A little blink and blow at how that would certainly not be including our dear katie, top ceo lazy princess zooming on a regular basis. lol touché

  13. Becks1 says:

    This is clearly an area where they have personal experience, so i’m not surprised they are supporting this movement.

  14. eb says:

    Facebook doesn’t want regulation. If they are seen as putting their thumb on the scale too much of what’s acceptable content (curating the news), then they risk falling into the news media category which requires far stricter oversight. (Republicans don’t like them criticizing Republicans and have lambasted them in committee meetings.) Right now they describe themselves as a technology company.

    Practically speaking, I think they are preparing for the inevitable, but, are dragging their feet, for what I can only suppose is financial reasons.

    This is what I remember from 60 minutes program iirc.

  15. Valiantly Varnished says:

    It said in the statement that they were urging CEO’s to participate so Im guessing that yes they are speaking directly with them.

  16. blunt talker says:

    I read a month ago that Harry had struck up some friendships and discussions with a few people in the tech world. So I am not surprised they support this activity against hateful people on social media-they certainly has had a great deal of this especially in the UK.

  17. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    FB: deleted
    Instagram: adios
    Twitter: outta here
    Best thing I have EVER done for myself