Quebec is joining the movement to pressure Facebook into policing hate, racism and discrimination on its platform.
The Coalition Avenir Québec government announced Friday it has suspended all advertising on the social media giant for the month of July, joining Canada’s five largest banks and hundreds of major brands in boycotting Facebook.
Quebec “wants to demonstrate the importance of the fight against racism and for access to quality information,” according to a statement released by Premier François Legault’s office.
The initiative is being led by groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Anti-Defamation League, following a rise in anti-Black and anti-Semitic posts on the site.
One of the inciting events of the boycott was a post by U.S. President Donald Trump last month that appeared to encourage the shooting of protesters following the police killing of George Floyd. Facebook’s own employees staged a walkout over the site’s initial refusal to take down the post.
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