MARK ZUCKERBERG LOSES $7-B DUE TO FACEBOOK BOYCOTT

A flood of high-profile advertisers announced this week they would boycott advertising in Facebook through July over its inaction on hate speech. Facebook's stock fell 8% on Friday, wiping $7 billion off of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's net worth, Matt Turner wrote for Business Insider late on June 28, 2020.

The boycott has sent Facebook execs scrambling, with the social media giant's top ad exec on Friday sending a memo to advertisers promising an external audit of its safety tools and practices. Facebook also said Friday that it is going to start labeling posts from politicians that break its rules but are “newsworthy” enough to remain on the platform.

The boycott is another example of the increased willingness of big brands to take a stand, as they respond to pressure from their own employees and customers. But as Tanya Dua, Lauren Johnson, and Lucia Moses report, many of these advertisers didn't spend much with Facebook, and the boycott statements are temporary and vaguely written, which could make it easier to resume spending after July while winning goodwill in the meantime.

Most of Facebook's advertising comes from small companies that can't afford to turn off the channel. Smaller brands that join the boycott could risk losing up to 80% of their monthly revenue, said Devin Whitaker, director of performance marketing at ad agency Good Moose.