Urging Facebook to revise its policies on hate and disinformation, Doglio’s campaign will sign onto the 30-day pledge forgoing Facebook advertising in a hotly contested primary election
Olympia – Today, State Representative and candidate for Congress in Washington’s 10th District Beth Doglio (D-Olympia) announced her campaign will join the #StopHateforProfit movement by not advertising on Facebook for 30 days, which includes forgoing the opportunity to advertise leading up to the August 4th primary election.
As dozens of major businesses, including local companies Starbucks and REI, as well as Coca-Cola and Verizon, have announced they are suspending their spending on Facebook for 30 days, Doglio is one of the first major political candidates to take the pledge.
“For too long, Facebook has allowed open trafficking of hate under the guise of free speech – promoting racism, white nationalism, and antisemitism, not to mention their embrace of disinformation, including climate change denial,” said Doglio. “Today, I am announcing that my campaign will join the #StopHateforProfit movement and will not spend a dollar on Facebook advertising through the primary election. Principles cannot only be upheld when convenient. This is one of those moments, and I’m calling on my fellow candidates in this race to join me and commit to doing the same.”
Political campaigns are estimated to spend $800 million on Facebook advertising in the 2019-20 cycle, representing more than half of all online political ad spending. While many campaigns would typically increase their investment in Facebook ads as the primary approaches, Doglio says this moment demands better.
“Right now, we have an important opportunity to demonstrate that our ideals are more important than impressions and our conscience is worth more than clicks,” said Doglio. “By standing together, we can send Facebook the clear message that they must take tangible steps to reduce the racism and disinformation they have allowed to flourish on their platform. In Congress, I will continue as a strong voice against hate and white supremacy.”