BEN & JERRY’S JOINS THE BOYCOTT

Ben & Jerry’s on Tuesday became the latest major company to join an advertising boycott of Facebook, saying that it stands with all of those calling for the tech giant to take greater steps to police abusive content on the platform.

The ice cream brand said in a statement that its ad boycott would begin on July 1 and also apply to Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by Facebook.

“Ben & Jerry’s stands with our friends at the NAACP and Color of Change, the ADL, and all those calling for Facebook to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, foment and fan the flames of racism and violence, and undermine our democracy,” the company said.

“Facebook, Inc. must take the clear and unequivocal actions to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate,” it added.

The move comes as Facebook faces growing criticism inside and outside the company over how it addresses incendiary posts on the platform. A coalition of civil rights groups last week launched the “#StopHateForProfit” campaign as part of an effort to get corporations to cease their ad spending on the platform until Facebook changes its policies.

Since the campaign’s announcement, at least a dozen companies have said they would pull their advertising from Facebook and Instagram. Outdoor apparel brands North Face, REI and Patagonia were among the first organizations to join the boycott.