American Express has become the first multinational company to pull its advertising from Sky News in the wake of the channel’s interview with the far-right extremist Blair Cottrell.The finance company’s Australian division announced on Twitter that it had decided to suspend its relationship with the channel.The company’s account said: “American Express has made the decision to suspend advertising from Sky News, as recent content on the channel does not reflect our brand values.”

The move – the first by a multinational company – comes after Sky News’ The Adam Giles Show on Sunday broadcast an interview with Cottrell, a far-right extremist who has previously said he wanted a portrait of Hitler in every school classroom. Sky said it was suspending the show, banning Cottrell from appearing again and announced a restructure of senior management.

A  spokesperson said the news channel acknowledged and respected Amex’s decision to suspend advertising, but added they had apologised and addressed the concerns “in the strongest possible way.”American Express’s decision comes amid an activist campaign to target advertisers urging them to pull commercials from TV networks and newspapers that publish far-right extremist and sexist views.

The campaign group Sleeping Giants Oz has also highlighted the Sky News show Outsiders and News Corp newspapers that syndicated an anti-immigration Andrew Bolt opinion piece last week. Initially founded in the US as Sleeping Giants, to target the far-right news site Breitbart, the Australian arm of the volunteer organisation was set up in last August.

Organisers say targeting advertisers is the most effective way to fight the normalisation of racism and far-right speech in Australia .After Cottrell’s Sky News, the group tweeted out a list of companies that had advertised with Sky News that night.Qantas, which has a commercial partnership with Sky News and shows the network in its lounges, said it would not alter its arrangement. Nor would other advertisers: the glasses retailer Specsavers, ANZ Bank and Westpac bank.