analysts put boycott impact into perspective

After losing 8.5% on Friday, Facebook (- 0.04% 216 dollars) remains under pressure on the stock market, the boycott of the world’s leading social network continuing to gain momentum. Companies denounce, among other things, the proliferation of hate messages on the network, with which they do not want to be associated. They may also be looking to buy back cheap virginity so they want to cut their advertising costs. If the announcements on this subject make the headlines of the media, analysts relativize the impact on the activity of the group.

The list of companies renouncing to advertise on Facebook and sometimes on all social networks never stops growing: North Face, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Diageo, Starbucks, Levi’s, The Hershey Group, Pepsi

Without denying the boycott, UBS finds it interesting to note some key themes after industry contacts. He notes that brands (even taken as a whole) represent a very small percentage of Facebook’s revenue and that advertising for brands remained low in June, probably reducing the impact even more. Mme de bell à JPMorgan, who does not expect a significant risk for the Facebook figures because many other advertisers will benefit from potentially cheaper advertising. He recalls that the group’s first 100 advertisers, who are more than 8 million in all, represent only 20% of revenues.

Faced with this movement, Mark Zuckerberg, who had hitherto adopted the strategy of the ostrich, announced several measures to tighten the moderation of content. Facebook will thus report all messages violating its rules. “There is no exemption for content that incites violence or suppresses voting. Even if a politician or an official says so, if we determine that the content may incite violence or deprive people of their rights vote, we will remove this content “said the founder of the group in a post.

When Twitter announced in late May a tweet from the president as violating its rules by glorifying violence, the Facebook founder implicitly criticized the decision in a Fox News interview. Mark Zuckerberg does not think Facebook or any other internet platform “should be the arbiter of the truth” and calls it “dangerous” to decide “what is true”.

Facebook now prohibits a broader category of hate content in advertisements. More specifically, it prohibits claims that people of race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity or specific immigration status pose a threat to the physical security, health or survival of others.