Social media giants have come under scrutiny in recent months, due to data leaks and the user data being misused, causing the unfortunate hacking of thousands of accounts. Users, as well as the government, have called on social media platforms such as Facebook, in particular, to do more to protect their users. 

In a recent blog we wrote, we mentioned how Instagram has introduced security measures to prevent user’s accounts’ being hacked. It seems as if not only personal accounts are the ones calling for more to be done to have a safer online platform, however, digital marketers are threatening to cut down their social media spending unless social media companies take more measures to protect users. 

Harmful and inappropriate material is gradually finding its way onto social media, with the likely possibility of being found by children. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) said businesses have to “carefully consider” whether they should continue to advertise on social media if such material is not removed. 

This would be a big blow for social media firms, as advertising and marketing is a key source of income for social media firms. Roughly 98 percent of Facebook’s $16.9bn (£13.3bn) fourth-quarter revenue last year came from advertising. “As professional marketers, we need to carefully consider whether social media is the right place for us to use our marketing and advertising budgets,” said Mocky Khan, London chair of CIM. 

He went onto say “In the UK alone our members and the wider marketing community invested nearly $52bn across digital marketing platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and globally marketing spend accounts for the majority of these digital firms revenues. As marketers, we trust and expect them to share our work in a responsible manner with the public.”

Social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook could be at risk of a heavy amount of income if they fail to address the constant issues surrounding the harmful content uploaded to their platforms.