“You may think something like this won’t matter, but the only way it won’t matter is if you choose not to participate.”
BALTIMORE, MD, March 28, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ — Noting that any economic boycott should also be tied to a social media freeze, some Maryland residents are announcing a new “Facebook Freezeout” on all Meta properties on April 18, 2025 – the date of the next planned economic boycott.
A website explaining the rationale behind the move has been established at https://www.facebookfreezeout.com/
Ironically, the Facebook Freezeout also is being publicized on social media – specifically, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share/14sCLQKFJCN/) “We see it like fighting fire with fire,” said Alex Zavistovich, a member of the group spearheading the initiative.
This is not the first such call for a freeze on the Metaverse. In January, celebrities including Michael Stipe took part in a weeklong freeze on Meta platforms as a political protest. Other organizers are promoting a Meta boycott May 5-11.
The April 18 Facebook Freezeout is the first to call for a public shunning of all things Meta tied to an economic boycott.
“We believe in the power of economic boycotts. We also believe that a social media blackout tied to these boycotts could create an added benefit,” according to the Facebook Freezeout website.
“The most effective protests are those that have a financial impact on the organizations that support, tacitly or overtly, what’s happening in the country,” added Zavistovich.
Organizers are calling for a social media freeze to coincide with every planned economic boycott.
“We’re not naïve,” said Zavistovich. “We know a single boycott or social media shutdown is not going to move the needle very far. But it’s a start – an important start. That’s why we hope people will continue to pursue economic boycotts, and avoid social media at the same time.”
“It may just be a case of ‘old man yells at clouds,’ but I believe that every so often we need to push the reset button, stop doomscrolling, get out of our echo chamber and simply talk to people again,” added Zavistovich. “Social media can get in the way.”
The organizers point to several reasons to start weening from social media – particularly Facebook and other platforms in the Metaverse. ProPublica recently identified at least 95 pages that regularly post made-up headlines designed to draw engagement, and stoke political divisions. (https://propub.li/4kk00rU)
To people who claim that a Facebook Freezeout is only a 21st century version of tilting at windmills, Zavistovich referred to a post from the news source The Verge on how businesses – and therefore Facebook itself – were affected by a previous blackout of the platform:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/14/18265002/facebook-instagram-outage-ad-revenue-lost
“We all absolutely should protest however our consciences believe to be right,” the Facebook Freezeout website explains. “But we firmly believe, like the organizers of the economic boycotts, that the most impactful protests are the ones that companies feel in their bottom line.
“You may think something like this won’t matter, but the only way it won’t matter is if you choose not to participate.”
Facebook Freezeout is an independently organized grass roots effort to combine economic boycotts with less reliance on social media. The organizers derive no financial benefit from the activity. For more information, visit https://www.facebookfreezeout.com/
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