Putting The Screws To Hate Speech

Michael Hedges June 21, 2021 Follow on Twitter

A benefit of the ongoing digital revolution is the ascendent activist challenging disinformation and hate speech in media, also ascendent. The playing field - or battleground, if you prefer - is leveling. Both sides intend to win; either by inflicting pain on the miscreants or invoking “free speech” tropes to evade misogyny and xenophobia. It is a battle of words. The sword of choice is advertising.

Sleeping Giants is one such activist group. It arrived in 2016 coincident with the US election of Donald Trump and, at first, targeted companies advertising on US right-wing media outlets. Sleeping Giants uses social media to illuminate for advertisers “anxiety-producing” disinformation and hate speech on media outlets and strongly suggest ads be removed. It now has affiliates in several countries.

It has a French affiliate. Its volunteer members, steadfastly anonymous, have applied pressure on companies advertising with ultraconservative weekly Valeurs Actuelles, xenophobic website Boulevard Voltaire, online tabloid France Soir and far-right television channel CNews. The publisher of Valeurs Actuelles, Valmonde et Cie, filed a civil complaint against Sleeping Giants citing an “industrial sabotage campaign,” reported France Info (June 10). It seems that automaker Toyota, sportswear company Nike and retailer Decathlon “gave in” and cancelled advertising.

CNews has operated for several years as a free-to-air channel of Canal+, principally owned by conglomerate Vivendi. The channel has steadily replaced news content with right-wing “opinion.” Canal+ joined the Valeurs Actuelles complaint against Sleeping Giants, reported Le Monde (June 13), claiming defamation and interference with freedom of expression. In March French media regulator CSA fined CNews €200,000 for “incitement to hatred” and “violence” in a broadcast about unaccompanied migrant children. The French Council of State affirmed an earlier CSA sanction against CNews for xenophobic depictions of Islam as “not incorrect” after an appeal by Canal+, reported AFP (June 17). "It did not disproportionately affect the free communication of thoughts and opinions … nor disregard the objective of constitutional value of the pluralism of currents of thought and opinion," said the Court.

Since attracting the attention of Sleeping Giants advertising on CNews has been limited to “small advertisers who pay very little but serve as cannon fodder,” replied Sleeping Giants spokesperson Rachel, a pseudonym. "These gagging trials are first and foremost made to intimidate us. First we would have to be identified.”

There are many examples of thriving right-wing, nativist, populist TV channels posing as news outlets while disbursing conspiracy theories and hate speech. They attract audiences; sometimes large, sometimes not so much. Media regulators are increasingly reticent to sanction these channels: the crazy ideas are also held by politicians. This poses a problem for advertisers not particularly comfortable associating with fringe - often violent - beliefs.

New to that special genre is GB News, a right-wing, nativist channel debuting across the UK this past weekend. So far, it is another to claim news as branding while offering opinion. GB News specifically appeals to Brexit supporters, those harboring animosity toward anybody outside the English countryside, particularly big city “elites.” It is owned by a group of investors including Discovery Inc.

Within hours of its arrival (June 13), several significant advertisers pulled their messages, including houseware retailer IKEA, telecom Vodafone, appliance manufacturer Bosch and brewer Grolsch. Some excused the ad placement as coming from an outside media buyer. Others responded with disgust. “Grolsch is a brand that prides itself on core values of inclusion and openness to all people, and we want to be clear that we do not associate ourselves with any platforms or outlets that go against these values,” said a company statement, quoted by Press Gazette (June 17). “We will do everything we possibly can to ensure that Grolsch does not appear on this channel again.”

UK-based media group Stop Funding Hate, similar in practice and intent to Sleeping Giants, started approaching advertisers months before GB News took to the airwaves. Early results infuriated the established right-wing order. “Our values of tolerance and freedom of expression increasingly risk being undermined by a small but vocal minority,” offered Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, in the right-wing Sunday Telegraph (June 20). “It’s no surprise,” said Stop Funding Hate director Richard Wilson regarding advertisers pulling away from GB News, quoted by the BBC (June 15).

See also...

• Hot Topics - Hate Speech

• Hot Topics - Television

Media in Spain - Diverse and Challenged – new

Media in Spain is steeped in tradition. yet challenged by diversity. Publishers hold great influence, broadcasters competing. New media has been slow to rise and business models for all are under stress. Rich in language and culture, Spain's media is reaching into the future and finding more than expected. 123 pages, PDF. January 2018

Order here

The Campaign Is On - Elections and Media

Elections campaigns are big media events. Candidates and issues are presented, analyzed and criticized in broadcast and print. Media is now more of a participant in elections than ever. This ftm Knowledge file reports on news coverage, advertising, endorsements and their effect on democracy at work. 84 pages. PDF (September 2017)

Order here

Fake News, Hate Speech and Propaganda

The institutional threat of fake news, hate speech and propaganda is testing the mettle of those who toil in news media. Those three related evils are not new, by any means, but taken together have put the truth and those reporting it on the back foot. Words matter. This ftm Knowledge file explores that light. 48 pages, PDF (March 2017)

Order here

More ftm Knowledge files here

Become an ftm Individual or Corporate Member to order Knowledge Files at no charge. JOIN HERE!