Dutch advertisers not ditching Facebook after whistleblower's profits first claim

Dutch advertisers are very concerned by the revelations of a Facebook whistleblower earlier this week, advertisers' union BvA said to NOS. But they have no plans to withdraw ads from the social media network.

Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen told the TV show 60 Minutes and the United States Senate that Facebook considers profit far more important than the safety of its users. The social media network is therefore not fully committed to fighting misinformation, among other things. She copied thousands of pages of internal documents before she left Facebook to back up her claims. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg denied the allegations.

According to BvA director Henriette van Swinderen, Haugen's revelations "underline the concerns that have existed for some time." She said that Facebook, like other platforms, provides quarterly reports to the Global Alliance of Responsible Media on how it combats things like hate speech and misinformation. "These reports show an upward trend," Van Swinderen said. "What we miss very much is what the situation is at a local level."

According to Van Swinderen, they've requested more local data from Facebook. "Initially, we heard that this was impossible. It is now being looked at more seriously, but the question is how this will turn out."

According to NOS, Dutch advertisers annually spend hundreds of millions of euros on advertising on Facebook and Instagram. The BvA is aware of no plans to stop advertising on these platforms.

In response to the Dutch advertisers' concerns, Facebook told NOS that "everyday teams are trying to balance billions of people with the opportunity to express themselves, but also the need to keep our platform safe." Facebook also reiterated that it continues to make "major improvements" in the fight against misinformation and harmful content.