FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: press@glaad.org
GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization responded to news about Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, again reiterating that Elon Musk’s previously stated plans for Twitter threaten the safety and best interests of users, society, and democracies around the world.
GLAAD released a statement following news of Musk’s takeover of Twitter:
“Despite his claim that he wanted to buy Twitter to ‘help humanity,’ Elon Musk has a record of posting and defending harmful anti-LGBTQ content as well as content that harms other marginalized communities. GLAAD remains deeply concerned about the safety of LGBTQ people on Twitter and we join other organizations that are now questioning Twitter’s future policies and actions against extremist content.”
“GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Index found that the LGBTQ community faces disproportionate levels of hate and harassment online. No matter who owns Twitter, it remains absolutely critical that the company prioritizes and consistently enforces its existing policies against hate speech, violence, and disinformation. Misinformation, disinformation, and hateful content have real-world consequences, and irrevocably harm our community, period. All of our corporate, government, and community leaders have a responsibility to facilitate education, facts, and the truth, and to disempower those who actively work against those principles of democracy.”
GLAAD is one of the founding members of the Stop the Deal coalition, a campaign launched in June 2022 by Accountable Tech, Media Matters for America, MoveOn, UltraViolet and others to warn of the potential dangers of the possible acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk. The coalition released the following statement:
“Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter will make it an even more hate-filled cesspool, leading to irreparable real-world harm. Musk’s plans will leave the platform more vulnerable to security threats, rampant disinformation, and extremism just ahead of the midterm elections. Elon Musk has a thirst for chaos and utter disregard for anyone other than himself and should not own Twitter.
In the last few weeks Musk has waded into foreign diplomacy – including parroting Kremlin talking points about their invasion into Ukraine. He is accepting financing from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud and the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar – two countries run by repressive regimes. Elon Musk owning one of the world’s most powerful communication platforms is dangerous for us all. As Musk runs Twitter to the ground, let this serve as a warning to other platforms that they will be held accountable for ignoring public safety and dismantling the guardrails designed to protect our information ecosystem.”
GLAAD released its 2nd annual Social Media Safety Index in July, evaluating LGBTQ user safety experience across the social media landscape, showing the entire sector is effectively unsafe for LGBTQ users, with high prevalence and intensity of hate speech and harassment.
The Index provided recommendations for the industry at large and reports on LGBTQ user safety across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. Read the full report here.
