Vodafone introduces new rules to stop its ads appearing alongside fake news and hate speech

Mobile operator Vodafone has introduced new rules to prevent its adverts appearing “within outlets focused on creating and sharing hate speech and fake news.”

Vodafone said the new rules would be enacted via a “whitelist-based approach.” Content controls would be used and implemented by Vodafone’s global agency network – which is led by WPP – as well as Google and Facebook.

The new rules require Vodafone, third parties acting on its behalf and ad platform suppliers to take “all measures necessary to ensure that Vodafone advertising does not appear within hate speech and fake news outlets.”

Over the past few months, the issue of brands’ advertising appearing alongside extremist and inappropriate content has become a significant one.
In March, for example, Google’s EMEA president of business and operations, Matt Brittin, apologised for the misplacement of advertising next to extremist content on its video site YouTube.

“There have been stories over the past few days about brands appearing against content that they wouldn’t like to appear against and particularly on YouTube, and so for me it is a good opportunity for me to say, first and foremost… sorry, this should not happen and we need to do better,” Brittin said during a press briefing at industry conference Advertising Week Europe.

In a statement on Tuesday the Vodafone Group’s chief executive Vittorio Colao said that, “Hate speech and fake news threaten to undermine the principles of respect and trust that bind communities together.”