Over 250 prominent entertainers have joined GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign to call on major social media networks to address "dangerous posts" about transgender people.
The celebrities addressed a letter to the leaders of Meta (operator of Facebook and Instagram), Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.
"There has been a massive systemic failure to prohibit hate, harassment, and malicious anti-LGBTQ disinformation on your platforms and it must be addressed," the letter reads.
The letter claims the platforms inadequately moderate hate speech and disinformation.
Some of the more prominent signatories include actors Alyssa Milano, Cynthia Nixon, Judd Apatow, Patrick Stewart and Zooey Deschanel, and singers Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Hayley Williams, Sam Smith and Shawn Mendes.
The quest for LGBTQ+ visibility can come in different forms
The percentage of Americans identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
The group called on social media networks to address the following:
- Content that spreads malicious lies and disinformation about health care for transgender youth
- Accounts and postings that perpetuate anti-LGBTQ extremist hate and disinformation
- Dehumanizing, hateful attacks on prominent transgender public figures and influencers
- Anti-transgender hate speech, including targeted misgendering, deadnaming, and other hate-driven tropes
"It’s about time that social media CEOs hear from leaders on their platforms whose content and creativity drive profits and revenue for them," said GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis. "It’s clear these creators and celebrities recognize that social media companies should be taking urgent action to address the pervasiveness and severity of viral hate and misinformation about LGBTQ, trans and gender nonconforming users, but instead such anti-LGBTQ content drives profits for the companies and is too often met with inaction.
"You can draw a direct line from online hate and misinformation about trans people to the hundreds of anti-trans bills across the U.S. as well as the rise in violence against LGBTQ people."
Twitter responded to Scripps News with a poop emoji. Google, parent company of YouTube, also issued a response to the letter.
"Our policies prohibit content that promotes violence or hatred against members of the LGBTQ+ community," Jack Malon, a YouTube spokesperson, said. "Over the last few years, we’ve made significant progress in our ability to quickly remove this content from our platform and prominently surface authoritative sources in search results and recommendations. We remain committed to this important work, and we appreciate the thoughtful feedback from GLAAD."
Scripps News also sent requests for comment to Meta and TikTok.
