A coalition of civil rights groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Anti-Defamation League, have called on advertisers to boycott Twitter.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson wrote that “until [actions] are taken to make Twitter a safe space, corporations cannot in good conscience put their money behind Twitter.”
Johnson affirmed that “Twitter must earn its advertisers by creating a platform that safeguards our democracy and rids itself of any account that spews hate and misinformation.”
The Anti-Defamation League called for advertisers to boycott Twitter, as well, releasing a statement in conjunction with several organizations indicating that despite stating concerns regarding the proliferation of antisemitism and hate on Twitter, Musk “has taken actions that make us fear that the worst is yet to come.”
Musk said Friday that “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue” due to advertisers’ concerns about content moderation and other issues raised by activists.
A number of major companies have paused ads in recent days, including GM, Audi, Pfizer, General Mills, Volkswagen and other big names who are wary of potential changes to Twitter’s policies as well as the departure of top executives.
The NAACP and ADL are part of #StopToxicTwitter, a coalition of more than 60 civil society groups, which also includes Color of Change, Voto Latino, Free Press, LULAC, GlAAD, the National Hispanic Media Center, and Sleeping Giants.
Members of the group met with Musk on Nov. 2 to discuss concerns over “potential changes being discussed for Twitter,” as well as an “uptick in extremist activity, racism, antisemitism, homophobia, disinformation and more.”
The group also raised concerns about Musk’s amplification of far-right conspiracies regarding the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband; it also cited reports the now-CEO could chip away at current Twitter rules protecting trans users.
“If Twitter does not take immediate concrete actions that illustrate a true commitment to maintaining best practices that protect users that companies then companies will not support with ad dollars and we’re seeing it happen in real time,” said GLAAD CEO Sarah Ellis.
