This is our moment to make Google ditch Breitbart (A.K.A. Trump News) once and for all.
The advertising giant is under massive pressure from the corporations it advertises on behalf of after it was revealed Google had no way to ensure ads wouldn't appear next to hate speech and extremist content.
In response to a slew of big-name companies, banks, advertising firms and government departments pulling their adverts from Google and its YouTube video site, Google is going to start monitoring its content for hate speech more closely.
This is a massive step forward, but Google is stopping short of ditching Breitbart, relying instead on individual complaints. No one, certainly not Google, should make money off hate. Let's make sure Google does the right thing now and ditches Breitbart.
Tell Google to follow its own hate speech policy and stop advertising on Breitbart.
Google’s ad placement service AdSense delivers multiple ads every minute to Breitbart’s webpages. Google’s own ad policy prohibits hate speech, harassment or bullying—and Breitbart violates all three literally every day.
But thanks to Sleeping Giants and our pressure, Breitbart is running out of corporations to fool. Advertisers are dropping it faster than we can count: nearly 1,600 and rising every day.
The growing opposition to Breitbart has been nothing short of inspiring. Thousands of corporations don’t want to have anything to do with a website that preaches hate. Two weeks ago, we delivered over 200,000 signatures to the HQ of Shopify, the business that sells Breitbart's merchandise. Google is feeling the pressure -- and if we pile on together now, we'll give Google no choice but to ditch Breitbart.
Breitbart’s content is anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-woman. It relishes the chance of spreading sensational hate to its readers. It knowingly publishes falsehoods and spreads half-truths. It still has plans to expand its propaganda network to Europe in order to influence crucial elections.
But we’ve been striking blow after blow against this “click-hate” site and if we can get Google on board, we might just snuff it out once and for all.
Join our call to Google: Follow your own hate speech policy and ditch Breitbart!
More information
The Guardian. 7 March 2017.
Vox. 8 March 2017.
Medium. 5 December 2016.
The New York Times. 21 March 2017.