What Was the 2020 Ad Boycott of Facebook?

Facebook’s annual report for 2020 says that “a number of marketers announced that they paused advertising with us in July 2020 due to concerns about content on our products”. Two Meta executives addressed the criticism in posts dated 1 July and 8 July 2020. This entry reports only what Meta said. It gives no campaign names or advertiser counts, because Meta’s posts give none.

What did Meta say at the time?

Nick Clegg, Meta’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications, wrote a post dated 1 July 2020 titled “Facebook Does Not Benefit from Hate”. It says Facebook had faced criticism over its decision to let controversial posts by the US president stay up, and “misgivings on the part of many people, including companies that advertise on our platform, about our approach to tackling hate speech”. It states, “Facebook does not profit from hate.”

A week later, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg published a post dated 8 July 2020 about Facebook’s third civil rights audit report. She wrote that Facebook “is subject to a boycott by a number of advertisers” and that the report’s release “couldn’t come at a more important time”. She also wrote, “we have a long way to go”.

What figures did Meta give about hateful content?

Meta’s 1 July post lists these numbers. Meta attributes the 95.7% figure to a European Commission report; the others are its own:

• More than 35,000 people working on safety and security, which Meta says it tripled.
• A European Commission report finding that Facebook assessed 95.7% of hate speech reports in less than 24 hours.
• “Nearly 90%” of the hate speech Meta removes found before anyone reports it.
• Action against 9.6 million pieces of content in the first quarter of 2020, up from 5.7 million in the previous quarter.

The same post adds that “zero tolerance doesn’t mean zero incidences”. Sandberg’s post says the auditors urged Meta to go further in several areas. It lists one change affecting advertisers: Meta says it went beyond existing hate speech protections “to ban ads that are divisive and include fear-mongering statements”.

What do Meta’s annual reports say about it?

The annual reports for 2020 and 2021 list reductions of advertising by marketers as a risk. They name concerns about brand safety among the reasons and give the July 2020 pause as the example. The reports for 2022 to 2025 do not repeat that example.

Meta’s 2025 report still lists “concerns about brand safety or potential legal liability” among reasons marketers may reduce advertising. Neither the 2020 report nor Meta’s July 2020 posts say how much the pause cost Meta, so this entry does not give a figure.

Which brand suitability controls does Meta offer now?

Meta’s help pages describe three controls.

Control	What Meta’s help page says	Where it applies
Inventory filter	Three settings: expanded, moderate, limited. You are opted into expanded by default. Moderate and limited lower reach and may increase costs.	Feed ads, in-content ads and Audience Network ads
Publisher block list	Helps prevent your ads from running on specific pages, profiles and apps.	Audience Network apps, Facebook in-stream reels, ads on Facebook Reels, and Facebook and Instagram profile feeds
Content block list	Helps prevent ads appearing near content you do not consider suitable. Set up through a Meta business partner that specializes in brand suitability.	Feed and Reels feed ads on Facebook and Instagram, and Threads feed ads

Meta says content that does not meet its community standards, such as full nudity, excessive violence, terrorist acts or misinformation identified by third-party fact-checkers, is excluded by default. It also says there is no guarantee that all content and publishers will match your own brand suitability standards.

What should you check in your account today?

• Open the Meta Brand Safety and Suitability Center and see which inventory filter each ad account uses. Expanded is the default.
• If you tighten it, note the reach and cost trade-off Meta describes, then compare cost per result before and after.
• Look at delivery reports for in-content and Audience Network placements, and add publishers you do not want to a publisher block list.
• If inventory filter is missing, Meta’s help page says to contact your Meta account representative.

FAQ

Did Meta say how many advertisers took part?

No. Meta’s posts and annual reports in this entry say “a number of advertisers” and “a number of marketers”. They give no count and no names. A number would have to come from a source outside Meta, and this entry uses only Meta’s own statements.

Did Meta change how ads are bought after the pause?

The two July 2020 posts do not describe a change to ad buying tools. Sandberg’s post does mention a policy change: banning ads that are divisive and include fear-mongering statements. The controls Meta documents for advertisers today are the inventory filter and block lists.

Can I stop my ads appearing next to unsuitable content?

Meta’s controls are designed to help you place ads next to more suitable content. Its help page says there is no guarantee that all content and publishers will align with your standards. Review delivery reports from time to time and tighten the controls if you see placements you do not want.