Facebook gets bad grades on report card from civil rights groups behind advertising boycott

In a report card sent toadvertisers and released exclusively to USA TODAY, the coalition makes the case thatFacebook hasn't taken meaningful steps to stop the spread of hate speech on its platforms.

Of the 10 demands made during the monthlong boycott, Facebook has not addressed six and only partially addressed four, according to the report card.

For example,Color of Change says Facebook did not follow its recommendationsto shut down hate speech on its platforms, yettold advertisers that it leads the industry in removing hate speech and that its artificial intelligence technology is getting better and faster all the time. While Facebook conceded to another demand, hiring a civil rights executive, it does not plan to do soat theleadership level, as organizers requested, Color of Change said.

Advertisers pulled spending from Facebook in July to protest the companys record on civil rights, giving voice to years of complaints that Facebook disproportionately stifles Black users while failing to protect them from harassment.

More than 1,000 advertisers including Disney, Walmart and Verizon took part, siphoning millions in ad dollarsnot enough to put a dent in Facebooks revenue, but enough to draw greater public scrutiny of toxic content on Facebook.

Last week, 20 state attorneys general issued an open letter to Facebook, demanding that it step up enforcement of its hate speech policies.

The Duke of Sussex says hehas been talking with Color of Change President Rashad Robinson about how to take action on racial justice since the protests began.