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Given that the ‘free speech absolutist’ mentioned below often threatens
to sue those who criticize him, allow us to clarify that these words are
a statement of opinion.
Indivisibles,
Indivisible as a movement was born online. In 2016, our founders wrote a
Google Doc on how to resist Trump’s fascist agenda and posted it on
Twitter. There, it was shared by prominent progressive activists, enabling
it to reach millions of people. Indivisible groups began popping up
organically all over the country, and were able to grow and mobilize
thanks in no small part to the reach that Twitter afforded them.
The Twitter we knew -- which, despite its many problems over the years,
allowed us to build this community and fight for a better world -- is now
largely gone. The platform has become a megaphone for a bigoted and
[ [link removed] ]conspiratorial billionaire, propped up by a [ [link removed] ]subscription scheme that
amplifies the voices of transphobes and white nationalists who agree with
him and muzzles his critics.
Since purchasing Twitter/X, Musk has uplifted accounts that target LGBTQ+
people for harassment, [ [link removed] ]spread transphobia and [ [link removed] ]antisemitism,
[ [link removed] ]re-verified violent white supremacists, and dabbled with dangerous
‘Great Replacement’ rhetoric.
Musk’s [ [link removed] ]outburst scapegoating Jews for the decline of X in September was
an inflection point, accelerating internal discussions about our continued
participation in a platform that not only allows such hate speech, but
rewards it, amplifies it, issues it from its C-suite. Musk doubled down by
endorsing dangerous antisemitic conspiracy theories this week.
We didn’t like the message it sent -- to the communities targeted by Musk
and his minions or to the bigots celebrating his mainstreaming of hate --
to continue on as normal. X is no longer a normal platform. And, absent a
change of ownership, there’s little hope of it doing anything but becoming
a more toxic, dangerous cesspool of hate and disinformation ill-suited for
progressive organizing.
So, we made the decision to step back from X.
Follow us on:
[ [link removed] ]Threads >>
[ [link removed] ]Bluesky >>
[ [link removed] ]Mastodon >>
We’re in the process of removing its icons from our website and emails.
We’ll no longer ask supporters to follow us there, or run advocacy
campaigns on the platform.* We’ll phase down original content to a minimum
to prevent the X Corp (it feels stupid just typing that name) from seizing
our account. And we’ll be providing [ [link removed] ]migration guides to help
Indivisible groups establish stronger presences on alternative platforms.
Belonging to any social media platform involves a cost/benefit analysis.
There are reasons it took us so long to arrive at our decision and why
others are choosing to remain on X (and note, we’ll continue to use our
account to amplify Indivisible groups and partners -- including
fellow-members of the [ [link removed] ]Stop Toxic Twitter Coalition).
X is still the primary platform people use to process major events in
real-time. It’s the platform favored by politicians of both parties, an
important consideration when you’re working in advocacy. And despite
growing numbers of hard-right extremists on X, there are still some
normies there thinking about how they’re going to vote in 2024.
These are all cited as reasons we can’t cede this space, and they’re
compelling. But they’re also deeply discomforting given the reality of the
site. No matter how much effort we put into creating persuasive,
informative content on X to contextualize major events and inform voters
ahead of elections, it’s all being downranked. This is in favor of
[ [link removed]'s%20%E2%80%9Cverified%E2%80%9D%20users%2C,NewsGuard%20analysis%20shared%20with%20Adweek. ]misinformation from purchased checkmarks and Elon Musk replying
“accurate” to a tweet claiming George Soros is a Lizard God-King turning
everything gay (yes, he really did).
So perhaps those reasons cited for staying are really arguments for more
of us leaving, and building community in alternative spaces elsewhere.
When trusted voices begin to leave the platform en-masse, X will lose its
appeal, its pull as a source of real-time information, and its remaining
legitimacy with policymakers and regular users.
That is, at least, our conclusion. And with the rise of text-based social
media platforms and existing networks, we’re not worried about our ability
to reach voters and have meaningful conversations. It might be a bit more
difficult, but it will be worth it.
You can now find Indivisible national accounts on [ [link removed] ]Threads,
[ [link removed] ]Bluesky, and [ [link removed] ]Mastodon. Each may have its own issues, however, ALL
of them are far better, safer, and more viable platforms for the work we
need to do now -- and in the years ahead.
We look forward to building on these new spaces -- and holding these
emerging platforms accountable to fighting disinformation and hate with
the same vigor as Musk has emboldened them.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
*Indivisible Truth Brigade will also be focusing on emerging platforms,
but may encourage posts on X occasionally for the explicit purpose of
countering disinformation.
[ [link removed] ]Indivisible Facebook
[ [link removed] ]Indivisible Threads
[ [link removed] ]Indivisible Instagram
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