Disney has reportedly slashed its Facebook advertising budget amid a big-business boycott of the social media platform

* Disney has slashed its advertising budget on Facebook, the Wall Street Journal reports. * The news comes after more than 500 advertisers suspended ads on Facebook as part of an industry boycott of the platform over its stance on hate speech. * Disney was the single biggest advertiser on Facebook in the first half of this year, according to analysis by research firm Pathmatics Inc. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Disney has slashed its advertising spend on Facebook and Instagram amid a boycott of the social-media platform led by civil-rights groups, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sources familiar with the matter didn't say how much had been cut, or when the decision was taken. The sources said Disney-owned streaming service Hulu had paused all advertising on Instagram, and one source said that ads for its cable network shows are unlikely to return to Facebook after the summer TV advertising lull, unless the social media giant changes its policies. The Facebook boycott, "Stop Hate for Profit," was launched in June by a coalition of civil rights groups including the NAACP, Color of Change, and the Anti-Defamation League. It asks big companies to stop advertising on Facebook in an attempt to force the company to rethink its hate speech and misinformation policies. A series of high-profile advertisers including Coca-Cola, Dunkin' Donuts, Verizon, and more than 500 others have announced they are suspending their ads on the social network. Disney has not officially announced any decision to reduce advertising spend, and was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider. Analysis provided to the Journal by research firm Pathmatics Inc suggests Disney was the top advertiser on Facebook for the first half of this year, spending an estimated $210 million. It was the number two spender in 2019, behind Home Depot. Leaders from Stop Hate for Profit met with Facebook executives including Mark Zuckerberg on July 7, and came away unimpressed. In a press call, the groups said the meeting had been a "disappointment," and that out of ten recommendations they had put forward to Facebook, it had only partially addressed one: That the company should hire a C-suite level civil rights exec. Facebook said it would hire a civil rights lead, but did not commit to make them a member of the C-suite. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why YETI coolers are so expensive
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Apple has backed down in its latest developer fight, apologizing to WordPress after it pressured the website-builder to add in-app payments

* Apple has apologized after it tried to force WordPress to add in-app payment options to a free app. * WordPress' founder said on Friday that Apple was refusing to allow any updates to the WordPress iOS app until the website builder added in-app purchases, from which Apple takes a 15-30% commission. * Apple is in a fierce fight with developers including "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and Spotify over its rules on in-app purchases. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Apple has backed down in its latest skirmish with a developer over its App Store rules. The tech giant on Sunday issued a rare apology to WordPress after it pressured the website builder to add payment options to its free iOS app, or else be blocked from updating. "We believe the issue with the WordPress app has been resolved," an Apple spokesman told The Verge. "Since the developer removed the display of their service payment options from the app, it is now a free st...

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX. Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...

What an independent contractor actually is and how it's classified under California's Assembly Bill 5, the gig worker law Uber, Lyft, and others are fighting with a November ballot measure

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors. * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...

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