Nearly Two Dozen A-List Celebrities Join Instragram Freeze After Civil Rights Groups In "Stop Hate For Profit" Coalition Launch Latest Action - PRNewswire

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NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly two dozen A-list Hollywood celebrities have signed on to the call by Stop Hate for Profit, a coalition of civil rights organizations and advocacy groups, that was issued yesterday, asking a one-day moratorium from posting on Instagram in protest of Facebook's repeated failures to address hate speech and election disinformation on their platforms.

Leading artists such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Katy Perry, Naomi Campbell, Jennifer Lawrence, Judd Apatow, Ashton Kutcher, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Jason Alexander, Kate Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan, Rosario Dawson, Ed Helmes, Isla Fisher, Mark Ruffalo, Kim Kardashian and Scooter Braun all have posted and shared the call for the Instagram Freeze issued by Stop Hate for Profit. And more are expected to sign on before the action begins on Wednesday.

The total estimated reach of celebrity and organizational sharing of the campaign's messages on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter so far is nearly 524 million people and accounts. And that number is growing exponentially by the hour. Nonprofits and individuals are following the call and joining the freeze.

Members of the Stop Hate for Profit coalition and its network of tens of thousands of supporters across the country are joining in a coordinated week of action on Instagram this week, demanding parent company Facebook take action to address hate, extremism, and disinformation on its platforms. This initiative follows a high profile action by Stop Hate for Profit earlier this summer when more than 1,200 businesses and nonprofits stopped advertising on Facebook for one month to protest the company's failure to address hate on the platform, a problem that still persists today.

"We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for Stop Hate for Profit," said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of ADL, one of the civil rights groups spearheading the effort. "Public figures to ordinary people, society clearly is just as incensed as members of the civil rights community about Facebook's repeated failure to address the spread of hate speech and disinformation on their platforms."

"It speaks volumes that there is now widespread concern about Facebook's complacency. The calls for Facebook to make meaningful changes to prevent the proliferation of hate and extremism on the platform are growing louder. It's time for Facebook to act," added Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP.

The actions include a one-day freeze on Instagram sharing and a series of posts over the subsequent days, calling out Facebook for its role in inciting violence, spreading racism and hate, and contributing to electoral disinformation. Members of the public, corporations, nonprofits and social influencers are expected to join in the effort.

The week of action is the latest effort by the Stop Hate for Profit coalition, which was started by nine civil rights and advocacy organizations, including ADL, Color of Change, Common Sense, Free Press, LULAC, Mozilla, NAACP, National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and Sleeping Giants.

The celebrities and influencers will demonstrate solidarity with #StopHateforProfit by freezing their Instagram account on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Throughout the week, the participants will post messages each day, focusing attention on Facebook's failures and highlighting a list of steps the social media giant could take to more proactively address hate.

As we approach possibly the most consequential election in American history, the Stop Hate for Profit coalition is demanding that Facebook adopt the following changes:

Racism, Violence and Hate

Remove Facebook Groups and other specific content promoting white supremacy, militia, hate, and violent conspiracies;
Increase resources focused on monitoring groups for hate speech and violence;
Change platform policy to forbid any event page with a call to arms, as recommended by the Change the Terms coalition; and
Commit 5% of their annual revenue to an independently administered fund to support initiatives, research and organizations doing the work to fight against racism, hate and division enabled in part by Facebook's inaction

Election Protection and Misinformation

Ensure accuracy in political and voting matters by eliminating the politician exemption;
Remove misinformation related to voting that has been debunked by credible fact checkers;
Prohibit calls to violence by politicians in any format.

Learn more at https://www.stophateforprofit.org/

SOURCE Anti-Defamation League