Daniel Hanley, senior legal analyst, writes about large corporations refusing to advertise on Facebook in order to boycott their unfair Market Power in the technology industry.

Hundreds of corporations have decided to stop advertising on Facebook to make a statement about Facebook’s inability to combat hate speech on its platform, as part of a pressure campaign led by prominent advocacy organizations such as Color of Change and the Anti-Defamation League. 

While this strategy is a necessary part of the steps required to weaken Facebook’s market power, a boycott of Facebook by advertisers has to be paired with other remedies that can fundamentally restructure social media, reduce Facebook’s dominance, and inject fair competition into the industry. 

Facebook occupies a central role in American lives. Almost 70 percent of Americans say that they use the platform in some form, and 74 percent of them visit the site daily. About 68 percent of Americans also obtain at least some of their news from Facebook, with 20 percent saying they often get news there. Facebook also has a 20 percent market share in US digital advertising, second only to Google. In addition to having a $60 billion war chest of cash, Facebook also has more than 1 billion users for four of its services, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

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