Social Media Blackout

#socialmediablackout

On March 8, we will stage a strike on social media and turn our profiles BLACK.

Why blackout social media? What about all the networking, also among women, that the internet makes possible? Indeed: we are over-represented among the many groups doing amazing and constructive work online. That is why we believe and hope that our absence will be noticed!

However big the impact of a #socialmediablackout turns out to be, we call for an online strike first and foremost in order to spend “real” instead of virtual time with each other and our allies on March 8: to take it from the tweets to the streets and into homes and gathering places as well! Get and be together, think and plan for the future, one that we cannot allow to be shaped by anti-democratic, patriarchal, bigoted and racist forces.

The role of social media in the rise of the right, which we are seeing all over the world, is indeed just beginning to be understood. From Brexit to the election of Trump to the election of raging misogynists to the EU parliament -- not to mention the upcoming elections in Holland, France, and Germany – so-called “populists” have been extremely adept at manipulating big data and social media tools to their own ends. We have posted some links on this topic below, and the conclusion is clear. This is not democracy: this is propaganda aimed at a hostile takeover of democratic institutions. We are already seeing the repeal of laws designed for the protection of the most vulnerable in our society, women and children of course included, from Russia and South America to Europe and the United States.
Equally well-known is that we who identify as women are constant victims of harassment online that both mirrors and magnifies what we experience in the “real” world. This takes many forms, from more or less harmless trolling to threats of abuse, rape, and even death.

In Frankfurt, we will take the “instruments” of online participation, our smartphones, and turn them into a #LightForAWoman at 8:00pm on the 8th.
Join us in the real world: See https://www.facebook.com/events/1809730492627201/ for all time and location and other news on that