Unilever, one of the world’s largest advertisers, threatens to pull its ads from Facebook and Google over toxic content

Unilever, one of the world's largest advertisers, is threatening to pull its ads from social sites such as Facebook and YouTube if the tech companies don't do more to minimize divisive content on their platforms.  Unilever’s Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed will call on Silicon Valley Feb 12 to better police what he describes as a toxic online environment where propaganda, hate speech and disturbing content that exploits children thrives.

"Fake news, racism, sexism, terrorists spreading messages of hate, toxic content directed at children – parts of the internet we have ended up with is a million miles from where we thought it would take us," according to prepared remarks by Weed. "It is in the digital media industry's interest to listen and act on this." Unilever in 2017 spent nearly $9.5 billion marketing its brands, including Dove, Lipton, Axe, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. One quarter of that budget, or about $2.4 billion, was spent on digital advertising.