The North Face and Patagonia boycott advertising on Facebook and Instagram

Outdoor brands The North Face and Patagonia have pulled their advertising from Facebook and Instagram, joining The Stop Hate For Profits campaign.

The Stop Hate For Profits campaign is calling on brands to join the boycott during the month of July, with The North Face suggesting it would stop its ads "until stricter policies are put in place to stop racist, violent or hateful content and misinformation from circulating".

Facebook said it was committed to "advancing equity and racial justice".

"We're taking steps to review our policies, ensure diversity and transparency when making decisions on how we apply our policies, and advance racial justice and voter engagement on our platform," it said in a long post, published on Sunday.

An example of an advert Facebook categories as "social issues".

Patagonia reportedly spent close to £800,000 on advertisements about social issues or politics between May 2018 and June 2020, according to Facebook’s ad library.

The ads were placed in the “social issues” category because they were about issues involving the environment.

Facebook Global Business Vice President Carolyn Everson said: “We deeply respect any brand’s decision, and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information."

A spokesman for VF Corp, which owns The North Face, told CNN it was considering adding other brands in its portfolio to the boycott, including Timberland and Vans.

The groups in the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, launched on Wednesday, includes the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Colour Of Change and Free Press.

The groups claims Facebook allows posts that incite violence and contain political propaganda and misinformation, and does not stop “bad actors using the platform to do harm”.