🐦 Twitter: An LGBTQ Unfriendly Nest? 😓 GLAAD Gives It the Thumbs Down 👎
TL;DR: GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ watchdog, gives the thumbs down to Twitter, calling it the least safe social media platform for LGBTQ folks. Twitter flunked GLAAD’s annual safety assessment with a low score of 33 out of 100. Its social media peers didn’t fare much better, with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube all failing to impress. 🌈🚫💔
Dive into the story:
Breaking news, folks! 📰 If you thought navigating your Twitter feed was like walking through a minefield, GLAAD agrees with you. The latest Social Media Safety Index (SMSI) is out, and boy oh boy, it’s not a pretty picture for Twitter. 😥 The bird-themed platform got smacked with a pitiful score of just 33 out of 100! 🙀 That’s like flunking your school exam but, you know, way worse because this is about people’s safety. 🎓📉
What gives, Twitter? You’d think by 2023, social media giants would have a handle on user safety, right? Apparently not! 😅
But before you go deactivating your Twitter account in despair, it’s worth noting that the other platforms weren’t exactly glowing in the safety stakes either. Instagram scored 63, Facebook a meager 61, while TikTok and YouTube trailed behind at 57 and 54, respectively. 🤨
These scores aren’t just for fun, though. The SMSI is a big deal, evaluating key factors like user safety, expression, and privacy capabilities, especially for the LGBTQ community. This includes a platform’s data collection policies related to users’ sexual orientation and gender identity, and whether they’re really protecting users from harm, discrimination, and hate speech. 💼🔍
So, why did Twitter score so low? It seems that backpedaling on their “Hateful Conduct” policy didn’t do them any favors. Reversing bans on deadnaming and misgendering users? Not cool, Twitter. Not cool. 😔 They also didn’t publish a Diversity Report disclosing data about the company’s LGBTQ employees. 📊🚫
GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis put it bluntly: social media platforms have a giant role in spreading hate and misinformation. They’re the ones flipping the switches of “live hatred.” And let’s not forget that what happens online doesn’t always stay online. It often has very real, very grim consequences. 🌐📴😱
Did you know that one infamous anti-LGBTQ social media account was directly linked to bomb threats and death threats against the medical community? 💣💔 Yeah, that’s how bad it can get.
The cherry on top of this awful cake? Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, isn’t helping matters. Despite his controversial and misinformed statements about the LGBTQ community, Twitter’s press email account is still auto-responding with a “Poop” emoji. That’s… classy, Twitter. Very classy. 💩🤦♂️
But here’s the silver lining: Twitter claims they’ve taken note and are committed to doing better. They’re engaging with GLAAD to understand the recommendations and support LGBTQ safety. Maybe they’re just late bloomers when it comes to safety measures? 🌼⏱️
In a world where we’re constantly connected, shouldn’t social media platforms be doing more to ensure user safety, especially for marginalized communities? 😕🌍
This leaves us with the ultimate question: Will
