Microsoft paused ad spending on Facebook and Instagram over concerns about 'inappropriate content'

• Microsoft has paused advertising spending on Facebook and Instagram, Axios reported Monday.
• The news comes as other major advertisers halt ad spending on Facebook to protest the way the company moderates hate speech.
• Microsoft is not participating in the boycott, according to Axios, but is concerned about the content that its ads could appear next to on the social networks.
• Microsoft has yet to respond to a request to confirm the report.
• Are you a Microsoft employee? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@businessinsider.com).

Microsoft has paused advertising spending on Facebook and Instagram through at least August, the company confirmed Monday after Axios first reported the news, citing an internal chat transcript.

The company first suspended advertising on the social networks in the US in May and more recently paused spending globally, Axios reported Monday. Microsoft confirmed the Axios report to Business Inisder.

Facebook's market value has dropped by $60 billion in the past two days as advertisers including Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and PepsiCo pause spending as part of a boycott in response to Facebook's inaction on hate speech.

Microsoft, according to the Axios report, is not participating in the boycott but is pausing the ad spending because it's concerned about where the company's ads will appear. The company reportedly cited "hate speech, pornography, terrorist content, etc." as examples of "inappropriate content," but, in the transcript Axios reviewed, did not explicitly say what kind of content it didn't want its ads to appear beside.

"Our experience tells us that the most impactful means to effect genuine, long-term change is through direct dialogue and meaningful action with our media partners, including the suspension of real marketing dollars," Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela said in an internal Yammer post, according to the Axios report.

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