Z FOR EFFORT

Facebook Holds Disastrous Meeting With Civil Rights Groups on Ad Boycott

“They showed up to the meeting expecting an A for attendance,” said one non-profit leader who attended the meeting.

In a digital meeting with civil rights leaders on Tuesday, Facebook executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg reportedly failed to offer anything to appease the demands of the leaders of an ad boycott against the social network. In a press conference, Color Of Change Executive Director Rashad Robinson said, “The meeting we just left was a disappointment. They showed up to the meeting expecting an A for attendance.”

A wide group of advertisers, including consumer goods giants like Coca-Cola and Unilever, have pledged to pull their advertising from Facebook during the month of July in protest of the company’s handling of misinformation and hate speech. Some advertisers have explicitly said they are participating in the boycott, while others have refrained while still cutting spending. “Instead of committing to a timeline to root out hate and disinformation on Facebook, the company’s leaders delivered the same old talking points to try to placate us without meeting our demands,” Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez said in a statement. Facebook has not yet put out a statement on the meeting.