How are social purpose organizations preparing for a post-Twitter world?

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Riley Nielson-Baker is a trans rights activist based in Nova Scotia. They manage Gender Affirming Care Nova Scotia (GACNS), a policy and advocacy organization campaigning for the human rights of transgender, gender diverse and intersex people, run entirely by volunteers – a team that once relied heavily on Twitter for its advocacy and lobbying work. 

And now Nielson-Baker and the GACNS team are about to embark on a huge undertaking: filing a Federal Human Rights Complaint against Twitter.

The team first sent the request to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) in November 2022, citing the following reasons on a Twitter thread: “Our community has had protections removed that once provided (very limited) support for our community against harassment and discrimination. […]. Twitter and Elon Musk are actively discriminating against our community and are, arguably, actively encouraging anti-queer harassment and discrimination.”  

“Twitter is a primary social driver in Halifax and enables connections to other parts of the province [of Nova Scotia],” Nielson-Baker later added in an interview. “It was our primary organizing tool, and was bought [by Musk] primarily for that reason: to disrupt organizing.”

The GACNS team used Twitter for a lot of advocacy and awareness-raising work, such as communicating about particular systemic barriers to accessing human rights within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Twitter, Nielson-Baker feels, is more powerful than other social media platforms, both because it is easy to use, and because it can disseminate information widely and quickly

However, by specifically removing protections for trans people on the platform, Twitter has violated Bill C-16, an amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act that protects gender identity and expression, Nielson-Baker says. “Our goal with this [complaint] is to codify Bill C-16, both for international companies, and in regulating harassment on online platforms,” they add.

But GACNS also know that they’re dealing with an understaffed, underfunded and bureaucratic process, and aren’t expecting to hear back from the CHRC until late 2023 – by which time, the entire situation surrounding the governance and content moderation policies at Twitter could change again.

“We’re playing the long game with this one,” Nielson-Baker adds. “This case has the potential to change the requirements for marginalized people on social platforms as a whole. When one of us is attacked, we’re all attacked.” An organization within a local law school has also offered GACNS legal support should the request turn into an official filing. “Every single person has a vested interest in this case, whether they know it or not,” Nielson-Baker says. 

What does the ongoing turmoil at Twitter mean for social purpose organizations specifically?

Although Elon Musk first initiated the process of purchasing Twitter in April 2022, the acquisition was only officially completed in late October 2022. A mass layoff – of nearly half of Twitter’s total staff – and many voluntary resignations raised questions about the long-term viability of the platform itself. In other words, without the technical resources and expertise to keep Twitter going, there was an initial risk that the infrastructure behind the platform would crumble overnight. 

And while Twitter itself hasn’t gone anywhere, a number of notable changes have taken place. Blue ticks, previously reserved for verified accounts, can now also be purchased under a Twitter Blue subscription. Users are, in theory, no longer allowed to “promote” other social media platforms on Twitter, which includes posting links to the popular alternative platform, Mastodon. In reality, however, many users now have their Mastodon handles in their main profiles. 

In addition, at the end of 2022, a number of notable journalists had been temporarily banned from the platform after commenting on Musk’s suitability as the new CEO of Twitter. Many have also voluntarily left the platform. And already in 2023, Twitter has announced that it will now allow political ads again, reversing a ban that was put in place in 2019.

One of the most alarming developments since Musk acquired the platform has been the disbanding of Twitter’s Trust & Safety Council, an advisory group made up of human rights researchers and activists. This, coupled with Musk reinstating Twitter accounts that had previously been suspended for hate speech, has left the platform feeling unsafe to many. 

For example, City Councillor Chris Moise, of Ward 13, Toronto Centre, made an official statement in which he said that he would no longer be using Twitter. The statement reads: “Any platform that actively condones and fosters racist, anti-semitic and other forms of hate is not a platform I will be a part of.” However, in his statement, Councillor Moise also acknowledges the usefulness of a platform like Twitter in communicating with members of the public, something which Nielson-Baker also echoes. 

“[The GACNS team] had to have a frank conversation about whether we wanted to stay on the platform, and what the alternatives are. What would the consequences be of us staying on the platform? We are planning to remain there until signs show that it’s no longer tenable. It’s how we communicate and get information out there rapidly, but it’s also harming members of our community.”

How should social purpose organizations be reacting and adapting?

The future of Twitter remains uncertain, and there have been plenty of calls for Elon Musk himself to step down as CEO, which he has agreed to once he finds a replacement. 

A number of alternative platforms are also springing up to fill the hole that Twitter has left behind: Project Mushroom is a crowdfunded social platform built specifically for those working in social justice; two former Twitter employees have launched Spill; and Mastodon, the most popular alternative to Twitter, announced an official partnership with CIRA, to fund its growth as a community-led social platform with deeply embedded anti-harassment values. 

“Twitter was a place where you could build community and advocate for the issues you believe in,” says Spencer Callaghan, director of brand and communications at CIRA. “It has enabled and caused revolutions all around the world. Non-profits rely on Twitter for organic reach and community building.”

In Canada, one of the most prominent servers at the moment is mstdn.ca, a volunteer-run digital community specifically for Canadians, moderated in English and French. One of the key differences between Twitter and Mastodon is that users of the latter have to choose a “server” or “instance” – in other words, this is a community within Mastodon that you can build your profile in. So, Mastodon is made up of a number of different servers, or communities, which can be interest-, skill-, or location-based. Although users can hop between servers, each requires a separate account.

For social purpose organizations, while joining a specific server could help them connect with others in their own sub-sector or in their location, Mastodon’s user experience might also make it more challenging to organically reach and educate new audiences about a particular cause. This could turn out to be particularly difficult for advocacy and lobbying organizations. 

Corporate-run social media platforms are likely to stay, Callaghan adds, but there is a shift to more community-driven platforms starting to happen as well. “The thing that struck me the most about Mastodon is its moderation policy. There is respect for human rights, the LGBTQ+ community, communities of colour, the disability community, and Indigenous land acknowledgements,” Callaghan adds. “You need to have confidence in the people moderating a certain platform and if they’re operating with the right intentions. Moderation is very much an art and not a science.” 

Kathryn LeBlanc, a communications consultant who works with non-profits and changemakers, advises organizations to keep a close eye on the situation at Twitter, and start diversifying their communications strategies and expanding their reach online. While none of the impact organizations that LeBlanc works with have left Twitter, there are constant questions about whether it’s still a platform that they should be using to communicate.

As immediate steps, LeBlanc suggests that non-profits update and improve their newsletter mailing lists in order to stay in touch with journalists, as well as improving the user experiences on their websites. “Instagram can be helpful for things like advocacy, activism and media relations, [especially] towards younger people.” 

“It’s helpful to keep an eye on new platforms like Mastodon and Spill, but it’s not a good comms strategy to open new accounts on more platforms all at once,” she says. In her experience thus far, a number of organizations that support people in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community are raising alarm bells about ongoing developments at Twitter, and so she advises paying particular attention to movements around moderation policies. 

The situation, LeBlanc adds, also opens up critical discussions about the profit-making nature of current major social media platforms, and what needs to change going forwards to build a more inclusive industry. “Critical communications infrastructure shouldn’t be reliant on the whims of billionaires,” she says. “It took this egregious situation for the world to have a tech wake-up. Our media and political ecosystems are so deeply intertwined with Twitter, and the world wasn’t fully prepared for this situation to occur.”

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