Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Monica Nickelsburg)

Microsoft has paused advertising on Facebook and Instagram worldwide due to concerns about content surfaced alongside ads, according to Axios.

The software giant is not participating in a broader Facebook advertising boycott that has enlisted REI, Levi’s, Coca-Cola, and other big companies. But Microsoft is worried about ads running alongside “inappropriate content” such as hate speech and pornography, according to internal communications viewed by Axios.

The distinction is important to Microsoft leadership, which prefers to use its leverage with media partners to affect change in private. But to Facebook, it represents another major company withdrawing from advertising, the social network’s bread and butter.

News of Microsoft’s ad suspension follows a similar move by Starbucks on Sunday. Advertisers say they are withdrawing from Facebook because the company does not take a stronger stance on hate speech, racism, and content promoting violence.

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