Plusnet says it has stopped adverts on The Sun website after social media backlash

Dozens of Twitter users scorned Plusnet for its advert placement, saying that The Sun is an example of extremist media, prompting it to stop advertising on the website.

Plusnet responded in a tweet: 'When we bid for ad space the article isn’t shown. We’ve stopped these adverts and we’re sorry for any offence caused.' (Twitter)

Phone and broadband provider Plusnet responded to a wave of social media criticism on Friday after an advert for its services popped up on an online article published by The Sun, in which companies are criticised for unwittingly funding extremist organisation through advertising.

Dozens of Twitter users scorned Plusnet for its advert placement, saying that The Sun is an example of extremist media, prompting it to stop advertising on the website.

The United Nations back in 2015 publicly urged the UK to tackle hate speech in British media, specifically citing an article in The Sun in which migrants were described as “cockroaches”.

Stop Funding Hate, a pressure group which aims to discourage companies from advertising in certain newspapers because it deems them unethical, tweeted that The Sun had been called out for hate speech by the UN. “Will you block your ads from extremist media?” it tweeted.

Plusnet responded in a tweet: “When we bid for ad space the article isn’t shown. We’ve stopped these adverts and we’re sorry for any offence caused.” Plusnet did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

But that did little to stem other complaints.

“Hi @Plusnet! this is disgusting. I'll be switching accounts ASAP if you don't @StopFundingHate,” one user tweeted. Another tweeted “@Plusnet I’m a customer of yours, sort this out would ya.”

In October, The Phone Co-Op, another broadband and phone provider said that it had committed not to advertise on publications such as the Daily Express, the Sun and the Daily Mail.

It said in a statement at the time that “in line with our values, the bulk of our advertising is done with our affinity partners which are mainly charities and other social change organisations.”

Last year, Lego became the first major company to agree to campaigners’ demands by announcing that it would stop advertising its products in the Daily Mail.

The announcement followed a public campaign calling on big companies to drop adverts from newspapers accused of promoting “hatred, discrimination and demonization.”

In December, Kellogg’s announced it is discontinuing advertising on far-right American news site Breitbart.com after what it called a review of sites that “aren’t aligned with our values as a company”.

On Thursday, The Times published an investigation showing that adverts by large companies, universities and charities are regularly appearing on hate sites and alongside YouTube videos run by supporters of terror groups, such as Islamic State and Combat 18, a violent pro-Nazi faction.

The paper said that a YouTube advert for a Mercedes E-Class car, for example, had run next to a pro-Isis video that had been viewed more than 115,000 times.

Similar adverts by companies including Honda, Thomson Reuters, Halifax, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Liverpool University, Argos, Churchill Retirement and Waitrose also appear on extremist YouTube videos, according to the Times.

Many of the companies said that they were unaware of and “deeply concerned” by the presence of their adverts on those sites.