Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Loses USD 7.2 Billion After Companies Pull Down Advertisements

NEW DELHI: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg lost USD 7.2 billion dollars after several companies pulled out advertising from the social media platform's network. Companies have started boycotting Facebook after critics said that they have failed to take down hate speech and disinformation from the platform.

On Friday, Facebook's shares fell 8.3 per cent, the lowest in three months. This also resulted in Zuckerberg coming down to the fourth place in terms of net worth. The top three richest person in the world include Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault along with Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

The shares of Facebook Inc's fell after Unilever, one of the world's largest advertisers, joined hands with other brands to boycott Facebook. The company said that it would not spend money on Facebook this year, according to a business report.

With this Facebook lost USD 56 billion from the market and Zuckerberg’s net worth down to USD 82.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Earlier, companies like Verizon Communications Inc. and Hershey Co. have said that they would stop ads on Facebook. Beverage major Coca-Cola Co. also said that it would pause advertising on all social media platforms for at least 30 days.

Amid the mounting criticism, Zuckerberg on Friday said that Facebook will label all voting-related posts with a link encouraging users to look at its new voter information hub.

The social media platform also expanded its definition of prohibited hate speech. Also, a clause has been added saying no adverts will be allowed if they label another demographic as dangerous.