Twitter is facing some backlash after the social media company's #HereWeAre commercial aired during the Oscars last night. #HereWeAre appears to pay homage to the #MeToo movement, as well as female empowerment, and while that's great, people don't feel Twitter is the one to try and use this to their advantage.
We stand with women around the world to make their voices heard and their presence known. To bring them front and center, today and every day. Join us as we say #HereWeArehttps://t.co/bVXGJ1NibP
— Twitter (@Twitter) March 5, 2018
Twitter previously used the poem in 2017 for its digital-only #SheInspiresMe campaign. While the poem by Denice Frohman featured in the commercial is powerful, and we see appearances from a couple of our faves (hey, Ava DuVernay and Issa Rae!), Twitter's track record allegedly goes against its content.
According to The Washington Post, Twitter is accused of being slow to police the rampant harassment of women on its platform. The troll epidemic on the internet is heavily present on Twitter, and women, specifically women of color, are some of the main targets.
People took to the platform to further explain their disdain for the actions of the social media platform.
This #HereWeAre Twitter commercial just gave me chills. That was stunning.
Now. Twitter, we shall await your continued work to make this platform safer for women who look like those in that commercial.
— Awesomely Luvvie (@Luvvie) March 5, 2018
"This #HereWeAre Twitter commercial just gave me chills," Author Luvvie Ajayi tweeted. "That was stunning. Now. Twitter, we shall await your continued work to make this platform safer for women who look like those in that commercial."
RT if you’re a woman who has reported abuse/threats to @twitter and they told you they weren’t going to do anything about it. #HereWeAre
— Erin Matson (@erintothemax) March 5, 2018
twitter: "we stand with women and support making their voices and presence heard and known"
also twitter: *refuses to suspend people harassing women, threatening women, creating parody accounts to mock women, and suspends women who are mass-reported by trolls* #hereweare
https://t.co/iwhnsd95wo— diane alston (@dianelyssa) March 5, 2018
#HereWeAre demanding that Twitter finally make this platform safe for WOC to express themselves without fear of targeted harassment. Words and ads are meaningless when your actions don't match.
— Lynn (@lynnv378) March 5, 2018
Just last year, thousands of women joined the #WomenBoycottTwitter campaign, a response to Twitter temporarily suspending actress Rose McGowan — a voice of the #MeToo movement and a woman who also accused Harry Weinstein of allegedly raping her — for tweeting “a private phone number.”
Some could argue that the choice of highlighting women's empowerment is convenient rather than pure in intention.
However, Twitter's CMO Leslie Berland assures that Twitter is working to change its policies.
We hear you, and we will not stop until we do exactly that. We are listening, learning and working with urgency. Please continue to hold us accountable.
— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) March 5, 2018
"We hear you, and we will not stop until we do exactly that," Brand says. "We are listening, learning and working with urgency. Please continue to hold us accountable."
Whether there will actually be a change in policy remains to be seen.
