Twitter Town Hall

Ending Racism USA announced our decision to quit Twitter, now called X, on August 9, 2023, as an act to resist its inappropriate use of social media which includes allowing and profiting from hate speech and using our data for free.

Our Twitter Town Hall, held on August 28, 2023, the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, is part of Ending Racism USA’s commitment to remember King’s dream as we work to end racism.

Participants discussed Twitter and its role in promoting and legitimizing racism, social media alternatives, and effective ways to use social media to end racism.

Content from the town hall has been condensed into five brief videos, available below.

We are also posting resources to learn more and get involved.

Twitter Town Hall Videos

Calling On Anti-Racists to Consider the Use of Social Media - Brenda Girton-Mitchell

A Historical, Sociological, Psychological, and Media Studies Analysis of Social Media - Ken Bedell

The Potential and Dangers of Social Media in Our Cultural Context - John Girton Jr.

Best Practices for Planning and Using Social Media - Cam Howard

Ways That We Can Work Together to Change Social Media - Lynn Schofield Clark, John Girton Jr., Ken Bedell, and Brenda Girton-Mitchell

Resources to Learn More

Resources from Ending Racism USA

• “Social Media and Oppression” by Ken Bedell on the Ending Racism USA website. A reflection on media technology and how it has been used by the elite to preserve their social control. If we understand how media technology functions, we can be intentional in claiming it for a society without racism.
• “Twitter Supports an Unhealthy Social Environment” by Ken Bedell on the Ending Racism USA website about how the prevalence of hate speech, the promotion of racism and other prejudices, and a business model that manipulates user experience to maximize profits makes Twitter antithetical to an organization that is working to end racism.
• We Will Not Be Silent by Brenda Girton-Mitchell. A report about the Twitter Town Hall.

Twitter/X and Hate Speech

• “The Musk Bump: Quantifying the rise in hate speech under Elon Musk” on the Center for Countering Digital Hate website.
• “Twitter and hate speech: What's the evidence?” by Mike Wendling on the BBC website.
• “Misinformation superspreaders are thriving on Musk-owned Twitter” on the Health Feedback website.

Social Media Funding and Algorithms

• “Facebook bans hate speech but still makes money from white supremacists” by Naomi Nix in The Washington Post.
• “Two Studies: Social Media Algorithms Fuel Online Hate” on the Tech Transparency Project website.

General Resources

• The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) “works to stop the spread of online hate and disinformation through innovative research, public campaigns and policy advocacy.” The CCDH blog includes articles and news about hate speech, Twitter, Musk, misinformation and disinformation, and other social media platforms.
• “Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule: How the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire – and is now struggling to rein him in” by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker, published Aug. 21, 2023 online and in the Aug. 28, 2023 print edition. The article provides a helpful, broad overview of Elon Musk beyond his ownership of Twitter, now named X.
• “Reimaging the Future of Digital Public Spaces” - A podcast episode from KQED in California on reimagining the future of digital public spaces. Sarita Schoenebeck, associate professor at the School of Information at the University of Michigan, shares some ways in which content moderation on social media platforms can become more effective through the use of shared community values and human rights.
• Big Tech’s Scramble to Stop Child Safety Laws - Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and TikTok say they’re committed to protecting kids. But their trade groups are aggressively fighting online child safety measures across the country. Article on the Tech Transparency Project website.
• Online Identity Help Center - Aims to help people understand different social media platforms’ policies and rules about content takedowns.

Best Practices

• “16 ways to build a better social media presence” by Gavin Boyter on the Sprout Social Blog.
• “How to create a social media style guide: 10 things to include” by Lauren Cover on the Sprout Social Blog.
• “How To Tackle Social Media Trolls: A Guide For Businesses” by Hanson Cheng on the SocialPilot website.

Get Involved

• Change the Terms - The Change the Terms coalition works with experts on terrorism, human rights and technology around the world to gather insights on how hateful and harmful activities operate online and how they can be stopped.
• Project Liberty Action Network is a movement to build a better web that serves our communities. They are working to build a world where technology advances human dignity and liberty and support The Kids Online Safety Act.