Quebec City pulls advertising from Facebook until further notice

Quebec City is pulling all advertising from Facebook until further notice.

This decision also includes advertisements by the Office du tourisme de Québec (OTQ) and public security authorities such as the police and firefighting services.

Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume, who announced the decision on Monday, criticized the social network’s lack of supervision regarding hateful and racist messages. He invited all municipalities to do the same.

READ MORE: Quebec government suspends all advertising on Facebook during July

Last Friday, the Quebec government announced the suspension of its purchases of Facebook ads for the entire month of July. This decision also applies to all of its departments and government agencies.

Several financial institutions and Quebec businesses have followed suit by ceasing all advertising on Facebook in July over concerns the platform is complicit in promoting racism, violence and misinformation. This includes the National Bank, Desjardins and the Laurentian Bank.

The five largest banks in Canada — Scotiabank, Royal Bank, CIBC, TD and Bank of Montreal — as well as brands like Lululemon and MEC have already announced that they will temporarily stop doing business with Facebook.

The movement has reportedly involved more than 500 organizations and multinationals around the world that are demanding tighter control over racist and hateful content.

2:38 Will political parties join companies & boycott Facebook?

— With files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise