Some women on Twitter are taking a leave of absence from the platform on Friday the 13th to protest actress Rose McGowan’s suspension for speaking out against Harvey Weinstein and his company’s board.
The hashtag #WomenBoycottTwitter was adopted Thursday evening and was intended to take effect from midnight in New York. The intention is to limit Twitter’s ad revenue for a day as fewer users log on.
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Many high-profile Twitter users have stood in solidarity with the boycott, and by Friday morning it was trending number one worldwide.
#IStandWithRose .@rosemcgowan and all the other victims. #WomenBoycottTwitter tomorrow. https://t.co/XTXtFMv2CM
— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) October 13, 2017
MEN: if you are on here tomorrow, I urge you to AMPLIFY our voices. Call on your brothers to be better, go after ones who won’t. #ROSEARMY
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 13, 2017
Tomorrow (Friday the 13th) will be the first day in over 10 years that I won’t tweet. Join me. #WomenBoycottTwitter pic.twitter.com/xoEt5Bwj5s
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 13, 2017
Ok ok Jesus, let me clear this up. #WomenBoycottTwitter will not silence us, but @Twitter will make much less $$ b/c of fewer clicks. I’m in pic.twitter.com/LPEbKJwpgM
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) October 13, 2017
Me briefly escaping from this godforsaken website #WomenBoycottTwitter pic.twitter.com/oCFrZKZYx8
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) October 13, 2017
Ladies. Let’s do this. #WomenBoycottTwitter. Not because of hate but because I love this platform and know it can be better.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) October 13, 2017
Some men are also joining in the protest.
In in 🙂 https://t.co/ylX1BQBwDs
— John Cusack (@johncusack) October 13, 2017
— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) October 13, 2017
Proudly joining #WomenBoycottTwitter for the next 24 hours even though Instagram doesn’t properly capture my tone.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 13, 2017
The movement, however, has drawn criticism from women of colour who are dismayed that this support isn’t rallied when Twitter discriminates against them.
Calling white women allies to recognize conflict of #WomenBoycottTwitter for women of color who haven’t received support on similar issues.
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) October 13, 2017
What happened with Rose McGowan being suspended was wrong. Unequivocally wrong. But if that’s what activated your awareness, I don’t especially trust you.
— wikipedia brown (@eveewing) October 13, 2017
Musician Questlove pointed out that sports journalist Jemele Hill has been hit with vitriol from US President Donald Trump on Twitter after she labelled him a white supremacist. She has subsequently been suspended from her job at ESPN.
aight….in addition to supporting the #WomenBoycottTwitter movement i ask you all remember that @JemeleHill is catching hell as well. out.
— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) October 13, 2017
Others have also felt that fighting silencing from Twitter by silencing yourself isn’t necessarily the best route.
I…. don’t think silence is gonna be the route I go.
— roxane gay (@rgay) October 13, 2017
I understand the idea behind #WomenBoycottTwitter but I don’t personally agree that silence is the right protest to being silenced.
— Kate
Queen of Ghosts (@kateleth) October 13, 2017
How about instead of #WomenBoycottTwitter which will accomplish nothing, let’s speak up about injustice and get voices heard
— Brittany Pole (@Brightknee91) October 13, 2017
