The Race Equality Foundation has announced its decision to leave social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and encouraged other organisations to follow suit.
It said it has made this decision in response to the platform’s “role in amplifying disinformation, particularly in relation to the recent unrest in Southport and the north of England”.
“Despite numerous complaints about racist, Islamophobic, and other discriminatory content, the platform has failed to take adequate action,” its statement reads.
“Furthermore, recent changes to the way ‘likes’ are amplified have only served to exacerbate the spread of hate speech.”
The foundation, which joined the platform in June 2010 and has around 10,300 followers, said the recent shift in the platform’s management has led to a “significant increase in the visibility of racist content”.
It said that other social media platforms are not without fault, but the foundation has determined that X has become a “particularly toxic environment for minority communities”.
Jabeer Butt, CEO of the Foundation, said: “It is increasingly difficult for us to remain on a platform that not only tolerates but also amplifies extreme and harmful views.
“In the past, we could report racism on Twitter and expect some action to be taken.
“However, the surge in unaddressed complaints over the last few months suggests that the platform now views racist abuse as an acceptable, even valuable, form of engagement. This is something we cannot and will not endorse.”
He added that moving forward, the charity will be looking into other platforms such as Threads to ensure that its key audience of ethnic minority Britons, sector leaders and policymakers can receive updates.
“The foundation does not take this decision lightly. We understand that X is a critical tool to engage with the public. As a result, we call on others to follow our decision of leaving the platform.”
‘Leaving could potentially give voices of hate more power’
Meanwhile, the Directory of Social Change (DSC) has explained its decision to remain on the social media platform.
Gabriella Poznansky, senior digital content and communications officer at DSC, wrote in a blog: “Like many of you, we have been horrified and shocked by the appalling racist and Islamophobic riots and we are very clear that is what they were.”
The blog adds: “It is also true to say that the hate proliferated via social media platforms, primarily Twitter/X and Facebook amplified calls to violent action.
“This was further exacerbated by the owner of Twitter/X, Elon Musk, apparently supporting the violence we saw on our streets. And this is deeply concerning.
“We have a social media strategy which includes these platforms, although part of that strategy is to focus more on LinkedIn than on Twitter/X or Facebook and other platforms.
“But like many of you, we have paused again to reflect on our use of social media in general and these platforms in particular.”
DSC has decided to stay, stating: “It is clear to us that our audience is primarily charities and their supporters who engage and interact with us very positively, and the things we are saying and doing get spread widely, as is also the case for other charities.
“It was also noticeable that for all the hate on Twitter/X and Facebook, there is also a huge wave of positive engagement.
“Indeed, many of those affected by the riots, and the charities that support them, received an enormous amount of love and support via the same platform that spread the hate.
“In a way, we see it partly as resistance to hatred, as leaving could potentially give voices of hate more power and create an echo chamber of conspiracy.
“So whilst we were tempted to leave, after considerable thought we felt that leaving would cause more harm to us and the sector than staying.”
The blog adds: “We are clear that this is not an easy decision for charities to make and we respect your decisions whatever they are.”
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