Verizon decides Facebook doesn't need its ad money after all

Mark Zuckerberg can definitely hear Verizon now.

The telecommunications giant announced Thursday that it is immediately ceasing all advertising on Facebook. So reports CNBC, which notes that Verizon is joining the likes of Patagonia, REI, and Ben & Jerry's in financially distancing itself from the controversial social media platform.

In an emailed statement to Mashable, a Verizon spokesperson chalked the move up to vague displeasure with varying violations of unspecified policies.

"Our brand safety standards have not changed," a Verizon spokesperson told Mashable. "We have strict content policies in place and have zero tolerance when they are breached, we take action. We're pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable and is consistent with what we've done with YouTube and other partners." 

We followed up with the Verizon spokesperson in an effort to determine just what, exactly, spurred this decision but received no immediate reply. We do know, however, that according to CNBC, Verizon's move to stop dropping cash on Facebook also applies to spending on Instagram ads (never forget that Facebook owns Instagram).

Facebook, for its part, did not immediately return our request for comment.

In what is probably more than a coincidence, on Monday the Anti-Defamation League published a blog post highlighting brand advertisements on Facebook running "alongside content that ADL and many others would deem hateful or extremist."

One example, provided by the ADL, may have caught the eye of someone at Verizon.

SEE ALSO: Facebook faces boycott push from NAACP, ADL, and other civil rights groups

"An advertisement for Verizon appears next to a video from the same QAnon supporters page drawing on hateful and antisemitic rhetoric," reads the ADL blog post, "warning that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is planning to impose martial law and bring on civil war 'just like the days of Hitler,' with concentration camps and coffins at the ready and Americans already being quarantined in militarized districts."

Gee, I wonder why Verizon wouldn't want its ads running next to that kind of delightful content.