KIND's Decision to #StopHateforProfit
Daniel Lubetzky
Founder of KIND Snacks & Camino Partners | Husband, Father, Shark on Shark Tank?? | Let's replace “us vs. them” with solving problems together ??| The Builders Movement |
Below is the note that I shared with the KIND Snacks team today.
KIND Team,
As we’ve sadly discussed on several occasions, the rise in polarization, tribal division, mistrust, prejudice and hatred is alarming and threatens to tear apart the social fabric that binds society together. Our mission to foster kindness and build bridges across lines of difference has never since our founding (or since I remember) been more urgent.
And yet, social media platforms – and particularly Facebook – have been exacerbating divisions and fueling hatred by knowingly allowing false and hateful information to permeate across their platforms.
We used to love that Facebook was a platform where you could know who users were and you felt connected to the community. But it has since been overtaken by fake accounts and trolls and tools of disinformation, bigotry and hatred. Its algorithms exacerbate division, as it has been documented that negative hateful stories get shared more; yet Facebook shut down efforts to address this problem. On top of this, Facebook does not take meaningful efforts to take down content that is demonstrably false, defamatory or hateful.
This must change, for the sake of Facebook regaining its role as a trusted platform, and, far more important, for the sake of society.
We’ve decided today that KIND – in the United States and across the 32 countries where we now operate – will vote with our advertising dollars in favor of truth, fairness, civility, and kindness. Most immediately, KIND is joining the Stop Hate for Profit initiative started by Color of Change, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL, whose Board I serve on), and others. We will pause our Facebook and Instagram advertising across all product lines starting July 1st through the close of the month.
While we set ambitious business objectives for July, which originally included a major new product campaign on Facebook, our team consulted with all our international and category partners and we all concluded that this was the right thing to do. We need to communicate to our counterparts at Facebook that, as much as we all care about financial objectives, protecting our society and stopping groups from undermining our democracy, our rule of law, and our social fabric matters far more.
Suspending our ad spend in July across all Facebook-owned properties is a meaningful message. But we also want to share that if these practices do not change - if Facebook doesn’t take visible, measurable and assertive efforts to effectively prevent the promotion of hate, division, defamation and misinformation by this year’s end - we will feel compelled to evaluate indefinitely suspending our investments in Facebook until they do so.
Sincerely,
Daniel Lubetzky
I move senior leaders from invisible to unstoppable in 6-12 months ?? Master public speaking & strengthen your Leadership Brand | Top Coach | Founder ThrivewithMentoring | Author WanderWomen
4 年Great Initiative!!
General Manager- RS3-Sports Services
4 年Daniel...good for you and the direction of your company...CONGRATULATIONS on standing up and having your voice be heard...NEVER BE AFRAID to voice your opinion. Makes this country great. My family will keep supporting your brands and your message
An education-based self-help system to improve emotional wellness. We teach people how to think better to increase their behavioral health.
4 年It is hypocritical and ultimately counter-productive to single out facebook, just as it is to blame all police for brutality. These are merely symptoms of a society that regularly engages in abusive behavior, albeit more visible ones. I can guarantee you that today at any company for which a person reading this article works if they have at least 100 employees, hate - and more to the point, abuse - is occurring. What's more, the other staff knows it and almost nothing is being done. As a project manager and software developer for more than 20 years, I have had the opportunity to work at numerous organizations where I was given a temporary bird's eye view. And I will tell you that every single one of them, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, had the same exact problem. The boss using derogatory language towards their reports. Some dude making inappropriate comments about a female coworker. Staff making racist remarks. And these are all just examples of the more subtle forms of hate as there are numerous examples of outright verbal abuse. And this is in the "professional" environment of the workplace. At home and in social settings, the behavior is just as bad if not worse. So if you wish to throw stones, then tell me that you have a behavior management system in your own company. That you have a chief people officer appointed by and reporting to your board / shareholders and to whom the c-suite and below is accountable. Because unless you have that dynamic in place, your employees are not being made accountable for what they do while at work. And if that's the case, how can you possibly expect facebook to manage all the content that we spew onto their network, through posts, advertisements and comments. We will being to solve this and other problems when we learn how to rear emotionally healthy children and ensure that it happens in every family.
Life is not always smooth, but God has plan for us. Wishing you a great day ahead! ??
4 年I support your initiatives and actions on this
Communication, marketing and advocacy professional and passionate volunteer for health and global equity
4 年Good to see KIND taking this action. Did you donate (some of) the ad revenue you would have spent on FB to the NAACP, Color of Change, or the Anti-Defamation League?