Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD) and Omnicom are under immense pressure from shareholders. The passing of a new shareholder resolution threatens to alter the way the companies buy social media advertising significantly.
Fight against Hate Speech
Shareholders are calling for the two companies to investigate whether their advertising policies contribute to the violations of civil or human rights. At stake is whether the company’s ad spend is directed to platforms at the heart of spreading of disinformation and hate speech.
Spearheading the push is Open Mic, an organization that has been vocal in using shareholder engagement to promote diversity and privacy. The group has encouraged shareholders to pass resolutions that would stop their companies from buying ads on platforms that encourage the spread of hate speech and misinformation.
Home Depot and Omnicom's likes have come under pressure to withhold their spending from controversial platforms such as Facebook. Cutting spending on such platforms is expected to force such platforms to be active in moderating content such that it does not feel hate or encourage the spread of misinformation.
In its defense, Omnicom insists it always ensures clients' ads never appear next to harmful content on social media platforms. Likewise, it insists on holding the platforms accountable for ethical standards.
Shareholders Pressure
Many advertisers have slashed their ad spending budgets on some social media platforms after discovering some of their ads appeared near inappropriate content. In addition to cutting spending, the advertisers have been called to speak out whenever television hosts make comments widely considered hateful or offensive.
Amid the calls, shareholders' resolutions are expected to be highly effective in encouraging moderation in most social media platforms often used for advertising. Such resolutions will force companies to only deal with platforms on top of their game in moderating content, thus ensuring there is no spread of hate speech or misinformation
Shareholders at Home Depot and Omnicom have already kick-started the drive-by asking the companies to investigate whether the money they spent on advertisement is on controversial platforms at the heart of fuelling hate.