We Can Hold Twitter Accountable Together

John,

Urgent update! Musk has agreed to important platform protections ahead of the election following direct engagement with Color Of Change and our partners. This is an incredible testament to the power of Color Of Change members like you!

Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson, along with other civil rights and racial justice leaders, met with Musk yesterday to demand immediate action addressing the rapid increase in hateful content and misinformation in the days since Musk took over. Because of our track record in holding powerful executives accountable and the direct action taken by members like you, Musk agreed to the following demands1:

  • Twitter will not restore the accounts of any banned users ahead of the midterm elections, and Musk will not act on  any reinstatements until a transparent, stakeholder-centered process has been established
  • Twitter will keep in place its election-integrity content moderation policies and enforcement. Additionally, it will restore access to all content moderators who  were locked out shortly after Musk assumed control. 
  • Musk committed to transparency in forming  his new content moderation council, and invited several civil rights leaders to join. 

While these commitments are important first steps ahead of  the election, we still have a long way to go to ensure that Musk makes protecting Black communities from hate and harassment an ongoing priority. We’ve been fighting to make Twitter safer for Black users for a long time, and while new leadership means new opportunities, we can’t simply take  Musk at his word. He routinely spreads dangerous misinformation himself, has a long record of union-busting activities and runs companies that are constantly sued for racist and misogynistic practices.2,3,4 

The first chaotic days of  Musk’s Twitter leadership underscores why no single person should have total control over an important communication and social media network. We must meet this volatility with an increased effort to build the power of our community, hold Musk to his commitments and to push him to develop long-term solutions towards building a platform that is free of violent and misinformed content. 

WILL YOU HELP US HOLD ELON MUSK ACCOUNTABLE?

Until justice is real,

– Color of Change's Tech Accountability Team

 References

  1. Elon Musk, [@elonmusk], “Talked to civil society leaders @JGreenblattADL, @YaelEisenstat, @rashadrobinson, @JGo4Justice, @normanlschen, @DerrickNAACP, @TheBushCenter Ken Hersch & @SindyBenavides about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies” Twitter, November 2, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/371640?t=13&akid=54029%2E4731121%2E7NYIhA
  2. Elizabeth Dwoskin and Faiz Siddiqui, “Elon Musk deleted a tweet about Paul Pelosi. Here’s why that matters,” Washington Post, October 30, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/371614?t=15&akid=54029%2E4731121%2E7NYIhA
  3. Lora Kolodny, “Tesla ordered to have Elon Musk delete anti-union tweet.” NBC News, March 25, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/371617?t=17&akid=54029%2E4731121%2E7NYIhA
  4. Hyunjoo Jin, “Tesla hit by new lawsuit alleging racial abuse against Black workers,” Reuters, July 1, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/371618?t=19&akid=54029%2E4731121%2E7NYIhA