Pinterest said Wednesday that it is joining the Global Alliance for Responsible Media.
GARM is a cross-industry initiative founded and led by the World Federation of Advertisers and supported by other trade bodies including the 4A’s, the Association of National Advertisers and ISBA.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube agreed to adopt a common set of definitions covering hate speech and other harmful content, as well as to work together in monitoring industry efforts, GARM revealed last month.
Pinterest head of partnerships Meredith Guerriero shared several examples of measures and policies already in place on the platform to ensure the safety of users and brands in a blog post Wednesday.
For instance, Pinterest began removing QAnon content in August 2018, when it first determined that the conspiracy theory violated its misinformation policy.
Guerriero said Pinterest has proactively sought out and removed related content, as well as content that was reported, and it disabled search results for QAnon and related keywords, variations and misspellings.
She wrote in the blog post, “Joining GARM elevates our work from an effort on our platform to an industry collaboration with the top advertisers, agencies, publishers and platforms to advance responsible media online. GARM exists to create a more sustainable and responsible digital environment that protects consumers, the media industry and society as a result. As both a mom and a marketer, I feel charged with that mission every day. I think first—and always—about where my kids can feel safe. But I also spend a lot of time in my day job thinking about where brands can feel safe.”
GARM lead Rob Rakowitz said in a statement, “GARM continues to make strides in establishing responsible standards and common frameworks to elevate digital safety across the industry, and we are thrilled to welcome Pinterest into this critical work. As an influential global platform, we’ve been inspired by some of Pinterest’s bold decisions—such as discouraging culturally sensitive Halloween content and opting out of monetizing all elections-related content—and we look forward to deepening our relationship.“
