Civil Rights Groups Call for Companies To Boycott Twitter Following Mass Layoffs

Advertisers are fleeing Twitter in droves and avoiding it like the Plague, but there's far more to it than that.

The Big Twit himself, Elon Musk, recently revealed that Twitter had a massive drop in revenue following the mass exodus of advertisers from the platform in response to activists' calls to boycott Musk's policies in the company.

Advertisers aren't the only ones fleeing Twitter. Some professionals and celebrities are considering leaving the platform altogether, while some, like Tea Leoni, have already left for other platforms.

Twitter Boycott Details

Twitter has undergone many changes since Musk's takeover in many ways. Since the acquisition closing, Twitter will soon have a "Content Moderation Council" while getting and keeping the blue check mark as a sign of having an account verified by Twitter will now cost their owner $8, per the BBC.

The coveted Edit button, previously exclusive for Twitter Blue subscribers only, could be available to all users soon if Musk gets his way.

However, Musk had many of Twitter's employees laid off to put the company on a "healthy path" and ensure its success.

Some of the employees already terminated (or presumably about to be) have filed a lawsuit against Twitter for violating the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and the California WARN Act.

The abrupt mass layoffs, though inevitable, along with content moderation issues at the start of Musk's takeover, have taken their toll on the advertisers on Twitter.

Many major companies have paused ads on Twitter as a precautionary measure to the potential changes Musk could be doing in the company, per Engadget. It is also a response to the departure of top executives.

Some companies that have paused their ads on Twitter include the Volkswagen Group, General Mills, Pfizer, and Mondalez, with General Mills being the first to flee Twitter, per CNN.

Although these companies have declared that they will be pausing their ads on Twitter until further notice, other companies, like Toyota, are mulling over the option of joining them.

Meanwhile, a coalition of civil rights groups is calling on other companies, such as Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Disney, to join those who have paused ads on Twitter, per CNBC.

This coalition, which calls itself #StopToxicTwitter, consists of Media Matters, Free Press, Accountable Tech, and Color of Change.

Jessica Gonzalez, Free Press' co-CEO, mentioned in a press conference that Musk promised to retain and enforce the election integrity measures already in place even before his takeover. However, she added that the mass layoffs that happened on Nov. 4, which also affected those responsible for content moderation, was a clear sign of his betrayal.

"These companies can stop their advertising from fueling intimidation, violence and pain," Gonzalez said.

Meanwhile, Derrick Johnson, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that supporting and funding a platform like Twitter, which allegedly enables "hate speech, election denialism and conspiracy theories," is highly dangerous to the country's democracy.

Musk's Reaction To The Boycott

Musk mentioned in his tweet that nothing has changed with content moderation since his takeover and that he and Twitter had done everything they could to appease civil rights groups, whom he called "destroyers of free speech in America."

Futurism reports that Musk has been spending the week meeting with advertisers in New York in light of the content moderation issues on Twitter to reassure them that the platform won't become a "free-for-all hellscape."

However, despite the meeting being productive, many advertisers remain unconvinced and have been grilling Musk over his content moderation plans to stem the tide of misinformation on the platform.