Disney freezes Disney+ and Hulu ad spend on Facebook

Disney has become the latest high-profile company to cut its ad spend on Facebook platforms amid a growing movement against the social media giant’s perceived inaction over hate speech on its platform.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Disney has joined the likes of Microsoft, Starbucks and Coca-Cola in pulling ads from Facebook’s main social media platform and Instagram.

The outlet said that Disney in particular has paused ads for Disney+ on Facebook and for Hulu on Instagram. The company spent a reported US$210 million on Facebook ads for Disney+ in the first half of the year, and a more modest US$16 million for Hulu ads on Instagram between April 15-June 30.

The move was not publicly announced, and was a decision made silently behind the scenes, the paper adds. The time-frame of how long Disney will suspend its advertising is also unknown.

This, along with the spending freezes from the aforementioned companies, is separate from the Stop Hate for Profit boycott which has been running throughout July. Organised by the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Color of Change and Sleeping Giants, the formal boycott has attracted support from the likes of Hershey, Ben & Jerry’s, Verizon and Patagonia.

It was sparked by Facebook’s refusal to moderate incendiary posts from US president Donald Trump who responded to reports of civil protests with a declaration which seemed to condone taking military action against his own citizens.

The organisers met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month but said that they saw “no commitment to action” from the company.