Dear John,
Twitter’s gone further down the path toward far-right white nationalism.
Since Musk took ownership of the platform and rolled back safeguards on hate speech and content moderation, he’s literally granted amnesty to white nationalists with no clear guidelines on how or when they could be removed again. Under the new rules, even David Duke, a neo-Nazi, longtime Klan leader, and Holocaust denier, could be back on the platform today.
And Twitter’s audience is starting to reflect its movement towards the far-right. In the past few weeks, far-right extremists and insurrectionists like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Senator Ted Cruz have seen significant jumps in their follower counts.1 Musk himself is cozying up to known white nationalists on Twitter and publicly declared his support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a far-right political figure who is all but certain to run for president in 2024.2
It’s alarming just how far-right Twitter has become in just a few weeks. There’s no sign that Musk is slowing down.
In recent days, Twitter has stopped enforcing its COVID misinformation policy, which was put into place during the height of the COVID pandemic in an attempt to curb misinformation and save lives.3 Musk has also threatened to retaliate against civil rights groups like Color Of Change, who have pushed him to keep Twitter’s content moderation guardrails in place to protect marginalized communities from threats, doxxing, and hate speech.4
Even Apple seems to have had enough. According to Musk, they’ve threatened Twitter’s standing on the App Store due to Musk’s rampant disregard for the app store’s community guidelines.5
It’s clear: Twitter is now supporting and emboldening violent insurrectionists, it’s encouraging hate speech against trans and gender non-conforming people, and it’s doing nothing to protect Black people against constant racist vitriol. Twitter should not receive the financial support of major corporate advertisers like Disney and Coca Cola. No company that supposedly cares about the most vulnerable members of our society can justify enriching Musk any further.
Musk has no interest in protecting Black people. He cares only for his own wealth and status, so let’s keep hitting him where it hurts most: his pockets.
The pressure that COC members are putting on advertisers is working. There are reports that Twitter is failing to pay its vendors and some of its workers on time.6 Musk has thrown temper tantrums on calls with major advertisers, admonishing them for pulling their advertising dollars.7 The platform, and Musk, are clearly hurting for cash, but we can’t stop now. Let’s make him regret all the actions he’s taken to hurt our communities.
We invite you to join us in calling and emailing ALL our corporate targets and urge them NOT to advertise on Twitter. Please share this email far and wide. Let’s make our voices heard!
Send an Email to Coca cola
SEND An email to Disney
Send an email to Unilever
SEND An email to Procter & Gamble
Send an email to HBO
Until justice is real,
— the Tech Accountability Team at COC
References:
1. Gerrit De Vynck, Jeremy B. Merrill and Luis Melgar, "High-profile Republicans gain followers in first weeks of Musk's reign," The Washington Post, November 27, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379771?t=10&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
2. Sarah Elbeshbishi, “Elon Musk voices support for Trump rival Ron DeSantis if Florida governor runs for president in 2024,” USA Today, November 26, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379772?t=12&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
3. Donie O’Sullivan, “Twitter is no longer enforcing its Covid misinformation policy,” CNN Business, November 29, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379773?t=14&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
4. Elon Musk, EM [@elonmusk]. (2022, November 28). The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. The public deserves to know what really happened … [Tweet]. Twitter. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379774?t=16&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
5. Elon Musk, EM [@elonmusk]. (2022, November 28). Yes. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379775?t=18&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
6. Chris Stokel-Walker, “Twitter is now having trouble paying some employees on time,” Ars Technica, November 28, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379777?t=20&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
7. Jyoti Mann, “Elon Musk personally called CEOs of companies that stopped advertising on Twitter to complain, report says,” Business Insider, November 27, 2022, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/379778?t=22&akid=55250%2E4731121%2Ek-UAfd
