Kim Kardashian boycotts Instagram and Facebook
Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio are among celebrities to boycott Instagram and Facebook to protest against the spread of "hate, propaganda and misinformation". They will freeze their accounts for 24 hours as part of the #StopHateforProfit campaign, organised by civil rights activists.
"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," said Kardashian, who has also temporarily paused social media activity for her new shapewear brand, Skims.
"Misinformation shared on social media has a serious impact on our elections and undermines our democracy."
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 pic.twitter.com/XkxzABn7qw
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) September 15, 2020
Other celebrities to speak out on the subject include Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lawrence, Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Ruffalo. Washington called for an end to "the deadly spread of misinformation that is ripping our world apart and threatening our democracy", while Baron Cohen decried the "hate, lies and conspiracies that inflame our societies".
A post shared by Kerry Washington (@kerrywashington) on Sep 15, 2020 at 11:46pm PDT
The campaign was launched in June and accused Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, of not doing enough to stop hate speech and the spread of false information. Founder Mark Zuckerberg said the social media platform would do more in the build-up to the US election to label harmful or misleading posts.
"The 2020 elections were already shaping up to be heated," he wrote in a statement. "During this moment, Facebook will take extra precautions to help everyone stay safe [and] stay informed."
Since then, nearly 90 companies have boycotted Facebook, pausing their advertising which has caused shares at the social media channel to fall dramatically.
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