Originally called Stop Funding Fake News, the campaign asks advertisers to stop placing ads on web sites it argues are spreading misinformation („fake news“).[16] It began as a grassroot campaign in March 2019,[17] inspired by the US success of Sleeping Giants which had convinced several advertisers not to advertise on the Breitbart News website.[16] Ted Baker, Adobe Inc., Chelsea FC, eBay and Manchester United were among the 40 brands and charities that the campaign had persuaded to stop advertising on what it called fake news sites.[18][19]

In March 2019, charity Macmillan Cancer Support removed an advertisement from The Canary website after complaints from the campaign and from others.[20] The campaign maintained that The Canary promoted conspiracy theories, defended antisemitism, and published fake news.[21] The Canary said changes to Google and Facebook‘s algorithms and the Stop Funding Fake News campaign led to The Canary downsizing its operations; it said that it was „against the actions of a state, not against Jewish people as an ethnic group“ and that it had been „smeared with accusations of anti-Semitism by those who’ve weaponised the term for political ends“.[19][22][23] Labour Party MP Chris Williamson described the campaign against The Canary as „sinister“.[2