To our MediaJustice Community,
Elon Musk made a unilateral decision to reinstate Trump’s Twitter account. This decision was the predictable outcome for an owner with a track record of privileging hate speech and in general, the speech of rich white men, at the expense of everyone else but particularly marginalized communities.
From the start, Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter has always been a power grab to control public discourse. And the consequences mean that communities of color will be the most impacted – not just by rampant online harassment and disinformation- but also by offline violence that too often stems from white supremacists using social media platforms to organize attacks. Racist attacks from the Far Right are already underway now under Musk’s leadership. Most recently, many of our own movement leaders and allies have been included on a target list for a mass reporting campaign intended to silence our people sounding the alarm about a myriad of social justice issues online.
This is why MediaJustice has fought to deplatform white supremacists and will continue to support content moderation policies that put our communities’ safety first.
However, this moment also reminds us that we cannot continue to rely on social media platforms that are privately owned and centrally controlled by billionaire tech bros. We cannot exercise our right to communicate and our right to self-expression on platforms that fundamentally do not respect these values by disguising violent hate speech as free speech. We deserve access to safe platforms that are truly accountable and work for the people.
While the near future is uncertain, one thing our movement history has taught us is that our people always find a way to communicate and connect with each other. From abolitionist newspapers, radical zines, and even social media, we’ve always found our way to one another and this moment is no different. There was a time before Twitter and there will be a time after Twitter, and regardless of what comes next, we will find a way to make our voices heard.
We’re grateful to have learned so much from our network members and allies who have set a new path in envisioning a different future for tech. Please consider following and donating to Mayfirst Movement Technology and Progressive Technology Project.
