For Immediate Release: December 2, 2020

Media Contact: media@colorofchange.org

Following Demands by Color Of Change and Civil Rights Advocates, Twitter Agrees to Key Concessions and Expansion of Dehumanization Policy  

NATIONWIDE — In response to the announcement by Twitter that it would expand the groups protected under its dehumanization content policy, Color Of Change’s Vice President Arisha Hatch issued the following statement:

“Today’s announcement that Twitter will update its dehumanization policy reflects the power of Color Of Change’s members and the efforts of the Change the Terms coalition which has been pushing for this progress for many years now.

The newly expanded definition of the policy to include race, ethnicity, national origin, and caste will increase user protections for Black and marginalized communities. These are essential concessions that should not be ignored and will have a positive impact on the wellbeing and safety of thousands of users who for too long have been subjected to vile messages, violence-inciting content, and degrading tropes pushed on the platform.

This is progress, but Twitter demonstrated a consequential lack of urgency in implementing the updated policy before the most fraught election cycle in modern history, despite repeated warnings by civil rights advocates and human rights organizations. The social media company has also adopted a non-committal and cavalier attitude toward transparency, failing to provide specific details on how content moderators are trained and the platform’s artificial intelligence efficacy at identifying dehumanizing content.

The jury is still out for a company with a spotty track record of policy implementation and enforcing its rules with far-right extremist users. Void of hard evidence the company will follow through, this announcement will fall into a growing category of too little, too late PR stunt offerings.”

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About Color Of Change:

Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over 7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org.