AppNexus, a leading ad exchange has banned Breitbart News from being aired on their channel. The blacklisted channel is run by one of the closed advisers of US President-elect Donald Trump. AppNexus took this decision stating that the site resorted to hate speech and incited violence. In the recent years, Breitbart has become a well-known organization.
How did Breitbart Respond?
Breitbart responded to this blacklist decision by saying that the channels have always fought against racism and bigotry in any form. AppNexus has not given any example to justify its stand. However, a spokesperson for the company stated that some of the articles were edited to remove or change the language that promote violence and hate speech.
Other Incidents Where Breitbart was Barred from being Featured
There are other instances where the other media houses have blacklisted Breitbart. Twitter has earlier banned a prominent writer of this channel on the grounds that it incited abuse against an actress. Breitbart portrays itself as a right-wing channel where most of its readers are either anti-globalist, anti-establishment and very nationalist. It has outposts in the UK and Israel. AppNexus’s spokesman Joshua Zeitz in an interview to the BBC highlighted how the company uses third-party standards to find out whether a particular write up includes hate speech or not. If they find that the concerned write up has information that acts as a violation or discrimination of a minority group, AppNexus follows a strict measure whereby they refuse to carry out ads of that particular site/channel.
How did AppNexus Clarify its Decision
AppNexus refused to give out any examples as to what led them to blacklist Breitbart as they don’t want to indulge in a tit-for-tat situation. At present, AppNexus has News Corp, Microsoft and Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP as its major investors. In a recent development, Steve Bannon, the former executive chairman stated that the controversial piece was written by a guest columnist rather than Breitbart own staff. However, the acceptance came after the channel was already barred. Mr. Shannon at present is the chief strategist to Donald Trump. The Civil rights group has criticized this appointment.
Breitbart Future Planning
Breitbart stands by its decision to continue protesting against bigotry and severe racism, irrespective of whether other media channels will ban them in the future or not. US President-elect Donald Trump recognized the Breitbart as a publication like other publications operating out there.
