Two rival Danish TV channels have teamed up to call-out Facebook
By James Herring on Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Two rival Danish TV channels have teamed up to call out Facebook for the scams and fake news posts that are prevalent across the network – and damaging public trust in the media.
The two biggest Danish broadcasters, TV 2 Denmark and Danish Broadcast Corpo-ration (DR) have united in a new campaign aimed at Facebook.
In a post on LinkedIn TV2 Danmarks wrote;
“We have raised our voices – most recently with a Danish video that has been widely shared. The reception of our outcry testifies that many of us wish to engage in dialogue with you. Many of us are calling for you to take responsibility for your platform. Therefore, it makes sense to share the video in a format that can reach a broader audience – including on an international level. False content that involves abuse, scams, and exploitation is not just a Danish issue. It is a problem worldwide when people start to doubt who they can trust. So, dear Meta. Your platforms. Your responsibility.”
In a one-minute campaign film that addresses Facebook directly, 16 of the two broadcasters’ famous hosts stand up and ask Facebook to take responsibility for the fake ads that exploit the hosts and their credibility with the sole purpose of scamming and extracting money from Danes.
The film functions as an open letter with a direct message to Facebook: Step up, and respond to the criticism.
Prior to the film, both TV 2 and DR tried to engage in dialogue with Meta about the fake content that flourishes on specifically Facebook. But without success.
Therefore, in mid-April, the two broadcasters, along with the Danish media outlet BT, whose brand is often exploited in the fake ads, wrote an open letter to Meta asking them to stop misleading the Danes and put an end to the fake content.
Two weeks later, to further the idea of the open letter in a form that the Danes could embrace, and share, TV 2 and DR developed the campaign film that high-lights the problem through hosts who have personally experienced the fake and intrusive content up close.
