Friend,

Elon Musk — the world’s richest person — just bought Twitter, and there’s a huge risk that under his leadership the platform will FULLY stop fighting online hate and disinformation.

But let’s be real: Twitter was already failing to do everything it could to keep users safe. With the midterm elections on the horizon, all social-media companies need to step up to protect our democracy.

With our partners in the Change the Terms coalition, we’ve given the companies the tools they need to crack down on hate and disinformation. But with a billionaire taking over and privatizing Twitter, we’re in for the fight of our lives. Please make an emergency donation TODAY to Free Press so we can keep fighting back.

Thank you so much—

The Free Press team

The midterms are in six months, Elon Musk just took over Twitter and scandal after scandal is uncovered at Facebook every week. Make an emergency gift to help us #FixTheFeed today.

Friend,

Elon Musk — the richest person in the world — just bought Twitter for a staggering $44 billion.

This man is a billionaire who:

• Has used the social-media network to intimidate and disparage anyone he dislikes or doesn’t agree with — including journalists, elected officials and owners of competing businesses.
• Promises to “transform” the social network and make “significant improvements” to the ways it manages content — leaving many experts questioning whether Musk would invite former President Trump (a rampant violator of the company’s current policies) back to the platform.
• Is currently tied up in a lawsuit over alleged rampant racial discrimination at his other company, Tesla.¹

We don’t know what Musk’s plans are for the site, but we do know that platforms like Twitter are already failing to protect users from hate and disinformation. Under Musk things could only get worse.

Will you make an emergency gift TODAY to help us fight back and protect our communities from disinformation and hate?

Free Press and our partners in the Change the Terms coalition have been fighting for years to get tech companies to stop the amplification of hateful, violent, misleading and false content across their platforms. Simply put: Hate Speech ≠ Free Speech — and if these last few years have shown us anything, it is that online hate and disinformation inflict real physical and mental harms on our communities. We have done the research, convened a coalition of experts and mobilized an army of supporters who are demanding immediate action to protect our democracy. But we need you with us right now.

This problem is bigger than Elon Musk — and it’s going to take everything we have to fight for social networks and a media system that TRULY support our democracy.

If we have any hope of creating online spaces where all users are safe, we need to put a tremendous amount of pressure on companies like Twitter — before, during and after a rogue billionaire’s takeover.

Thank you so much,

The Free Press team
freepress.net

P.S. Online hate and disinformation are destroying our democracy. Please make a generous donation today so Free Press can keep fighting back.

1. “California Sues Tesla Over Alleged Rampant Discrimination Against Black Employees,” NPR, Feb. 11, 2022