Twitter users are taking the company to task over its seemingly inconsistent privacy policies and abuse reporting. A #WomenBoycottTwitter movement gained steam last night, in reaction to Twitter’s brief blocking of Rose McGowan’s account earlier this week. Women, and men, are signing off the site to show their support for Rose — who has been a vocal critic of Harvey Weinstein and Ben Affleck — and take a stand against the silencing of victims of sexual assault.
“Ok ok Jesus, let me clear this up,” Kathy Griffin wrote in her sign-off tweet. “#WomenBoycottTwitter will not silence us, but @Twitter will make much less $$ b/c of fewer clicks. I’m in.”
Rose McGowan’s brief block has prompted vital conversations about censorship on the social media platform. In a statement, Twitter said the block was because Rose shared a private number, and for no other reason. But some Twitter users are not satisfied with the response. Compared to men, women disproportionally experience pushback for speaking out, users like Chrissy Teigen are asserting, sharing her personal experience with online harassment.
Ava DuVernay and Questlove urged users to also provide support for women of color who are silenced:
“aight….in addition to supporting the #WomenBoycottTwitter movement i ask you all remember that @JemeleHill is catching hell as well,” Questlove pointed out. ESPN host Jemele Hill was placed on a two-week suspension by the channel after she called on fans to boycott the Dallas Cowboys’s advertisers, responding to comments by the team’s owner that implied he was against the Take the Knee movement. The fact that Jemele will receive pay during her suspension seemed to suggest ESPN’s decision was symbolic more than anything.
It is important to note Rose’s account was unblocked yesterday and Twitter, breaking with tradition, issued a statement explaining its decision-making process. “We want to explain that her account was temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates of our Terms of Service,” the company explained. “The Tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future.”
While there is no word on how long the Women Boycott Twitter will actually last, hopefully the world will listen to the silence.