The past week has seen a reckoning begin over the\u00a0content policies\u00a0\u2013\u00a0or lack thereof \u2013\u00a0governing the big media platforms.<\/p>\n
Major marketers, including Coca-Cola, Unilever and Diageo, are\u00a0halting spend\u00a0on social media at least through July.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s always the danger than these efforts end up being an exercise in virtue signaling once they\u2019re out of the headlines.<\/p>\n
To keep the pressure on after this initial period of backlash, IPG Mediabrands has released media responsibility principles to help clients hold their media partners accountable for the content on their platforms.<\/p>\n
Now is \u201cthe moment to seize on the opportunity to get this to resonate across the industry,\u201d said Joshua Lowcock, chief digital officer at UM and global brand safety officer for IPG Mediabrands.<\/p>\n
Unlike brand safety, media responsibility is about more than protecting a brand and its reputation \u2013 it\u2019s about protecting the communities a brand serves and acknowledging the impact that media has on society.<\/p>\n
The principles encourage clients to seek out suppliers that promote respectful discourse and represent diverse voices, and to divert spend from properties that create hostile environments, marginalize groups of people and\/or peddle misinformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven a \u2018brand safe environment\u2019 has other implications to consider, like what is your content funding and does it result in harm to society?\u201d Lowcock said.<\/p>\n