A one day protest aimed at calling out Twitter and bringing attention to the way women are treated on the social media platform attracted mixed responses on Friday.
The #womenboycotttwitter hashtag was trending after being created, in part, to highlight the fact that actress Rose McGowan was temporarily locked out of her account this week while calling attention to her own rape and the treatment of other women in Hollywood, especially at the hands of producer Harvey Weinstein.
Twitter said action was taken against McGowan after she violated their terms of service by publishing someone’s phone number in a tweet. But supporters of the actress viewed it as just another strike against women who speak out against men and sexual harassment.
Some in Hollywood did join the protest, indicating that they would be staying off Twitter for the whole day to call attention to the issues.
Starts now. pic.twitter.com/wlCu3ro32C
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) October 13, 2017
My mentions since posting #WomenBoycottTwitter 3 minutes ago #thisiswhy pic.twitter.com/c1GKSmBu32
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) October 13, 2017
But others used their tweets to say that boycotting and staying silent was exactly the problem, and that women making even more noise was the real way to bring change to the platform.
While I support the reasoning for #womenboycottwitter , I feel it's detrimental to the overall point. Our voice is important!#AmplifyWomen pic.twitter.com/raj7RCbbRd
— Joanne Tyler (@x__BadWolf__x) October 13, 2017
I support women – I am one last time I checked. I don’t think voluntary silence is the way to protest forced silence. #womenboycottwitter
— Some Redhead (@caponeagain) October 13, 2017
#womenboycottwitter fully support those that are boycotting, but maybe we should stand up and be loud instead!! pic.twitter.com/tlK4R8kkOt
— Kay K. (@GingerKayK) October 13, 2017
We will not be silenced I'm still tweeting because I as a woman as a HUMAN have a right to be heard. Break the silence. #womenboycottwitter
— Paris Lane (@Sheezer96) October 13, 2017
Who in their right mind deemed this as the right thing to do, isn’t silence what played a partial role in this issue ?#womenboycottwitter
— Diane B ? (@dmb1031) October 13, 2017
Sod #womenboycottwitter I've been silenced by misogyny far too much to now do it voluntarily. EVERYONE should shout louder against sexism.
— Melissa Cole (@MelissaCole) October 13, 2017
This makes absolutely no sense to me. #GetLoud instead. #womenboycottwitter
— Sissywitch ? (@sissyknits) October 13, 2017