Dear MoveOn member,
A new figure has emerged from the 2024 presidential election, and no, it's
not Vice President-elect JD Vance.
It's Elon Musk.
Whether it's heading up a so-called "Department of Government Efficiency,"
taking phone calls with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from
Mar-a-Lago, or publicly stating who he thinks should be treasury
secretary, Musk is wielding massive control over Donald Trump—and the U.S.
government.^1,2,3
And while it's no surprise that a billionaire with numerous government
contracts would have influence, what really platformed Musk into power is
his total control over Twitter/X. In just under two years, he was able to
transform it from a social media platform into a right-wing propaganda
machine.
We can undermine Musk's power stronghold in a surprisingly easy way: Stop
posting on X, and encourage our half a million followers to join us on
Bluesky. MoveOn is refusing to contribute any longer to Musk's influence,
and we're winding down our work on X and ramping up our posts on Bluesky.
But X was one of our strongest pipelines to the public, and rebuilding a
social media infrastructure on a new platform takes serious resources.
Leaving X won't be easy, and we need to start right away building our
Bluesky account and audience to keep our movement going. Will you donate
$5 a month to help us devote the resources needed to build
this new platform while still fighting Trump's MAGA takeover?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
It's no accident that X now seems much more right-wing. Studies show Musk
worked directly with the Trump campaign to influence the election.^4
X's AI-powered trending section promoted voter-fraud conspiracy theories
and smears against Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk launched an X
community devoted to Trump propaganda.^5
With Musk at the reins, MoveOn and other organizations trying to get the
facts out were squashed while right-wing content was promoted.
And now Musk is reaping the rewards. Musk is now in charge of a program
with a specific mandate of dismantling regulation and slashing government
programs—which will enrich him even more.^6
Fortunately, the public isn't buying in to this new Musk-run world.
Bluesky is a decentralized, open-source platform that can't be controlled
by one billionaire, and since the election, the app has been gaining 1
million new followers a day.^7 Bluesky doesn't rent out blue checks to
user profiles with a pay-to-play model like X. Instead, Bluesky helps
prevent misinformation by verifying users for free with their website
domain.^8 Bluesky also offers strong blocking features, unlike X's
weakened block that has been blasted for enabling harassment.^9,10 The
fact that it's a democratic organization is also why MoveOn chose Bluesky.
MoveOn is taking a stand and stopping our daily X posts. We need to
leverage our new Bluesky account to reach millions of new people in the
fight against Trump and Musk. Please chip in $5 a month to
help rebuild and sustain our infrastructure.
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
No matter how far Musk has gone to turn X into a propaganda machine, it is
still incredibly ingrained in the public consciousness.
More than half a billion people use X every month, and posts there are
reported in news articles and shared on other platforms like Instagram and
Facebook.^11
MoveOn has hundreds of thousands of followers on X, and we can't just
shift those to Bluesky—we have to reach out and convince them to move with
us. We also need to advertise our new account, work with the media to
recognize the reach we have there, and introduce ourselves to an entirely
new audience. But the alternative—relying on X and enriching Musk
further—is just not an option.
Can you chip in $5 a month to help us take a stand against
Elon Musk and Donald Trump as we transition away from X?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Evelyn, Allie, Allison, Melissa, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Elon Musk's first order of business in Trump administration: Kill
remote work," Fortune, November 21, 2024
[link removed]
2. "Trump is pushing his own running mate aside for Elon Musk," MSNBC,
November 22, 2024
[link removed]
3. "Elon Musk suggests Trump take public input on treasury secretary,
backs Howard Lutnick," Washington Examiner, November 16, 2024
[link removed]
4. "How Elon Musk turned X into a pro-Trump echo chamber," NBC News,
October 31, 2024
[link removed]
5. Ibid.
6. "Elon Musk's first order of business in Trump administration: Kill
remote work," Fortune, November 21, 2024
[link removed]
7. "Traffic on Bluesky, an X competitor, is up 500% since the election.
How will it handle the surge?" NPR, November 19, 2024
[link removed]
8. "How to verify your Bluesky account," Bluesky, April 28, 2023
[link removed]
9. "Bluesky, Smiling at Me," The New York Times, November 22, 2024
[link removed]
10. "The X (Twitter) Exodus To Bluesky, Explained," Forbes, November 20,
2024
[link removed]
11. "Twitter 'X' Statistics (2024) — 586 Million Active Users,"
Demandsage, September 17, 2024
[link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump and his MAGA allies expect us
to give up. But we will not give them what they want. We will never stop
working to defend our fundamental freedoms and protect our democracy.
MoveOn has been leading the movement against right-wing extremism for 26
years, and we promise you that we will still be here every step of the way
forward.
Will you donate to power MoveOn's work to protect our freedoms and
democracy under Trump's administration?
Donate: [ [link removed] ]$5 monthly
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[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount monthly
[ [link removed] ]Or make a one-time gift
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