Kim Kardashian and other celebrities promote an Instagram boycott for one day over hate messages

Several celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Kim Kardashian, have announced that they will not post anything on their Instagram accounts for one day (this Wednesday, September 16).

The objective of this boycott is to demand that Facebook, the company that owns the social network, more effectively combat hateful content and misinformation.

See this post on Instagram

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 - only to take steps after people are killed.

Misinformation shared on social media has a serious impact on our elections and undermines our democracy.

Please join me tomorrow when I will be “freezing” my Instagram and FB account to tell Facebook to #StopHateForProfit.

Link in bio for more info on how to preserve truth.

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Sep 15, 2020 at 11:50 PDT

In a message posted on her account, where she has nearly 190 million followers, Kardashian explained that she loves to connect directly with her fans through Instagram and Facebook, but that she cannot "sit quietly while these platforms continue to allow her to be spread hate, propaganda and misinformation ”, to take action“ only after people die. ”He concluded by inviting his followers to join the boycott for one day, using the hashtag #StopHateForProfit, let's stop the hate for profit. On Facebook It has also announced that its fashion and cosmetic brands are joining the boycott.

Actors Sacha Baron Cohen and Jennifer Lawrence, among another twenty celebrities, have also joined this initiative, including Penelope Cruz, who announced it this morning.

The action arises from a group of organizations that joined forces in June with that name, Stop Hate For Profit, to ask Facebook not to take refuge in its status as a neutral tool and to take responsibility for the content published on its platforms.

The campaign specifically targets Instagram, but several of the celebrities involved, such as Kardashian herself, have expanded it to their Facebook posts.

The collective includes nine organizations, including the Anti Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish association against anti-Semitism, and the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

This group accuses Facebook of "inciting violence, spreading racism and hatred, and contributing to misinformation about the electoral process."

The United States will elect a new president in November and, by the way, Kanye West, rapper and husband of Kardashian, is running as an independent candidate.

See this post on Instagram

#stophateforprofit #instafreeze

A post shared by Penélope Cruz (@penelopecruzoficial) on Sep 16, 2020 at 1:12 PDT

See this post on Instagram

I'm standing with the country's leading civil rights organizations - including @ColorofChange, @ADL_National, and the @NAACP - who today have called on all users of Instagram and Facebook to protest the amplification of hate, racism, and the undermining of democracy on those platforms.

I do use Instagram and Facebook, but I want it to be a force for good - not hate, violence, and disinformation.

This should be an opportunity for Facebook to work with these organizations and the community at large to make it a better, safer platform for all.

Please join me in not posting for 24 hours this Wednesday Sep 16. #StopHateforProfit #Instafreeze

A post shared by Leonardo DiCaprio (@leonardodicaprio) on Sep 14, 2020 at 3:26 PDT

I stand with the leading civil rights organizations in this country, including Color of Change, ADL, and the NAACP, who today called on all Instagram and Facebook users to protest against the amplification of hatred, racism and the undermining of democracy on these platforms.

I use Instagram and Facebook, but I want them to be a force for good, not hatred, violence, and misinformation.

This should be an opportunity for Facebook to work with these organizations and the community to become a better and more secure platform for everyone.

Please join me and don't post anything for 24 hours this Wednesday, September 16.

In a press release, the ADL explains that the campaign can reach more than 500 million accounts on social networks (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), adding the followers of celebrities who have already joined.

The platform has also announced that during the next few days the campaign will continue with messages explaining the role of Facebook in the dissemination of racist messages and false information.

Apart from those mentioned, names such as Judd Apatow, Katy Perry, Naomi Campbell, Michael B. Jordan and Mark Ruffalo, among others, also participate.

However, and according to

the reception of the campaign has not been especially positive on social networks, with sarcastic comments such as “what a sacrifice” and “what a way to take risks”.

The newspaper compares it to #BlackoutTuesday, a campaign supported by the Black Lives Matter movement with the publication of a black image that was criticized as insubstantial.

In June, Stop Hate For Profit already promoted another campaign for companies to stop using Facebook advertising for a month.

More than 1,000 companies joined, according to data from these associations, including names like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Starbucks and Puma.

Many already announced then that they would return or that they were small companies that needed to use the Zuckerberg platform to reach their customers.

At the beginning of July, the CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, met with representatives of the movement, who described the meeting as "disappointing", assuring that they had not received a clear answer that could lead to concrete results.

The platform presented him with a list of ten recommendations, which included having experts to evaluate the impact of his actions against hate speech and to eliminate the accounts that spread these messages.

In August, Facebook announced that it had removed thousands of accounts linked to the QAnon movement, a conspiracy theory in favor of President Donald Trump.

And in early September, it also announced a tightening of its rules on political advertising, although they will only take effect one week before the elections.

Facebook ignores hate & disinformation on their site.

This is not an "operational mistake."

It is a deliberate decision to put profits over people and democracy.

Tell Facebook to #StopHateForProfit.

https://t.co/7TSovLMug2 pic.twitter.com/lJts6Ampgp

- Jennifer Lawrence - Represent.Us (@JLawrence_RepUs) September 14, 2020

Facebook ignores hate and misinformation on its website.

This is not an "operational error".

It is a voluntary decision to put benefits before the people and democracy.

Tell Facebook to stop the hate for profit.

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