the UK version of The Daily Mail is being targeted by a group calling for advertisers to boycott the title due to a perception it has become too right-wing and is peddling hate.

(B&T stresses that all comments relate to the UK edition and not the Australian online version.)

A group calling itself “Stop Funding Hate” is petitioning advertisers of news outlets that it believes promote “hatred, discrimination and demonisation”.

And its already landed one big supporter, with the kids’ toy company Lego agreeing to stop advertising with The Daily Mail.

According to reports in the UK’s The Independent, the Danish toy company has tweeted that it has “finished the agreement with theDaily Mail and are not planning any future promotional activity with the newspaper.”

Lego had previously run free giveaways inconjunction with the the newspaper. It’s also understood that other big spenders with The Daily Mail – retailers John Lewis, M&S and Waitrose – have all been urged to boycott the title, too.

“Stop Funding Hate” is targeting UK press that it believes demonises refugees – particularly children – or are reporting falsehoods around Brexit. 

A spokesperson for the group said: “Stop Funding Hate welcomes the decision from Lego. We are asking brands to listen to their customers when they tell them they want to stop funding hate, and that is what they’ve done.

“People are becoming more aware that the money they spend could end up supporting publications whose stories, language or portrayal of certain people, fuels division. This urgently needs to addressed. These headlines harm people.”