Niléane on MacStories: LGBT and Marginalized Voices Are Not Welcome on Threads

I do have some sincere expectations for you all who are reading this. I expect tech journalists to more systematically report on everything that fits into this pattern. I expect tech podcasters to acknowledge that Threads is only a great alternative to Twitter if you’re a straight, white male. I expect that we all start understanding why some marginalized communities are staying on Twitter despite all of its horrific flaws. I expect that awareness of Meta’s consistent pattern of silencing marginalized voices can help direct funds, donations, and efforts to Mastodon to make it a durable, more wide-reaching alternative.

This post is a good overview of Meta’s moderation failures over the past year and is a good reminder that they need to do better.

Additionally, within minutes of the post going up, Niléane received this email from a reader. To be very clear, that email is what hate looks like, and it has no place in the world. It certainly has no place being directed at my friend, either. The fact Niléane is a kind, delightful person is besides the point, that’s simply not how well-adjusted people interact with other humans, and the anonymous person who wrote in should be ashamed of themselves.

I don’t pretend to fully appreciate understanding what it feels like to be told people hate me for simply existing. I’m white, I’m male, I’m straight, and while I of course have my own problems to deal with, I strongly support the LGBTQ+ community and want them to be treated like everyone else. I fly a pride flag at the top of this blog to make it very clear where my support lies.