Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter and it’s going as badly as we expected.
Within hours, there was an “immediate, visible and measurable spike” in hate speech on Twitter. The use of the n-word alone skyrocketed by over 500 percent.
Earlier this week, Color Of Change and other civil rights leaders met with Musk to discuss our concerns. While Musk pledged to preserve or restore several existing protections against hate and misinformation, his actions tell a different story.
Today, Musk announced massive layoffs of thousands of Twitter employees and dissolved all of the employee resource groups focused on diversity and inclusion. By putting those responsible for community standards and user safety first on the chopping block, Musk is creating the conditions that would fail to meet even the short-term promises he made just a few days ago. To make matters worse, on Monday – a day before the midterm elections – Musk will roll out a scheme that will allow anyone to receive Twitter’s signature blue “verified account” check mark – if they pay him $8 a month without verifying their identity. This could lead to massive election misinformation, including unscrupulous Twitter users impersonating election officials and spreading misinformation about the election..
Twitter’s biggest advertisers cannot continue to sit on the sidelines and fund these mounting harms against our communities. Join us and demand The Walt Disney Company, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, and other big corporations pull their advertisements from Twitter until Musk takes meaningful action to keep Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone.
TOgether we can keep twitter safeAt a time when the internet is increasingly being weaponized to attack Black people and destroy our social and political rights, Musk’s plans for Twitter threaten our safety. Black women have historically been among the most abused groups on Twitter and were 84 percent more likely than white women to be targeted by hate speech. With rollbacks on hate-speech policies and cuts to content moderation staff, this abuse will only increase, further inflaming a hostile online environment that can spill over into real-world violence.
Some advertisers have already paused their Twitter ads, but we need Musk’s biggest advertisers to step up and demand he maintain a safe space for everyone. This is vital as we head into the 2022 midterms.
We demand that Twitter:
Additionally, Twitter must uphold its commitment to enforce its existing ban on use of the word “groomer” and other slurs that falsely, baselessly and maliciously characterize LGBTQ+ people – and their, allies and medical professionals who help them – as pedophiles, Those terms are clear invitations for harassment and violence, and are in violation of Twitter's hateful conduct policy.
s Twitter’s new CEO, Musk must meet these demands and keep the promises he made to ensure Twitter is a welcoming platform. Together, we can hold Musk accountable to users like you.
TELL Advertisers: Keep Twitter safe
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