Guardian, The

Jim Steyer: the man who took on Mark Zuckerberg

"With more than two billion users Facebook is bigger than Christianity,” says Stanford law professor Jim Steyer. “Their ability to amplify hate speech or white supremacy or racist messages is so extraordinary because of the scale of the platform.” It’s a typically bold statement from the man who set up the Stop Hate for Profit (SHFP) campaign calling on advertisers to withdraw from Facebook for the month of July. More than 500 firms have joined the temporary boycott, including Coca-Cola, Adidas and Unilever.

Facebook announces new hate speech and misinformation policies amid advertiser revolt

Facebook is changing a number of policies relating to hate speech and voter suppression on the platform, said Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. The announcements were made in a hurried appearance by the executive on his personal Facebook page shortly after Unilever announced that it was pulling advertisements for the next six months – which sent Facebook stock tumbling more than 7%.