Rose McGowan found herself in Twitter jail Thursday, after calling out Ben Affleck for distancing himself from Harvey Weinstein now, while allegedly protecting him in the past. The actress/ activist tweeted that Affleck knew about the sexual assault allegations all along.
@benaffleck “GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT” you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.
— Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 10, 2017
After the suspension, the actress took to Instagram to tell her followers what had happened and asked them to “be her voice” until her account was restored.
Going above and beyond, the #RoseArmy began a hashtag Thursday, #womenboycotttwitter, in which women (and the men who support them) would boycott Twitter in every capacity beginning midnight October 13 and ending midnight October 14. McGowan and her supporters find it difficult to believe Twitter’s explanation that her account was merely suspended because she tweeted someone’s private information, but consider it more likely that her suspension was a sort of censorship after a day of her going extra hard on Weinstein and the rest of the men in Hollywood who knew about his history of alleged sexual assault.
Making it even more difficult to believe Twitter, McGowan brought up the point that not everyone who violates the site’s terms of service (including making personal threats) is banned.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/918549157387710464
The first to call for the boycott seems to have been sparked early Thursday morning by Kelly Ellis, a software engineer in San Francisco.
https://twitter.com/justkelly_ok/status/918362427187781632
The hashtag caught on rapidly, having made more than 17 million impressions by Friday afternoon. Surprisingly, the Twitter user who has made the most impressions with the hashtag isn’t even McGowan – it’s Chrissy Teigen who took to Twitter before the boycott started to show the level at which the site failed to protect its users, and the shadiness of suspending McGowan’s account and not others.
My mentions since posting #WomenBoycottTwitter 3 minutes ago #thisiswhy pic.twitter.com/c1GKSmBu32
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) October 13, 2017
Men, too, are boycotting the site by tweeting the hashtag and staying off of Twitter, no matter how effective they feel it will be.
I'm not a fan of silence or absence as a strategy. That said, it's worth a try. See you after midnight tomorrow. #WomenBoycottTwitter
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) October 13, 2017
Some women, however, are refusing the boycott and instead, deciding to stay on Twitter and inundate their timelines with verbal protests.
https://twitter.com/natvanlis/status/918873829572775938
Respect to everyone participating in #WomenBoycottTwitter, it's just that my preferred form of protest is literally never shutting up
— Jeva Lange 🫎 (@Jee_vuh) October 13, 2017
…and some of the men on Twitter agree, pointing out that silence is what misogynists would like most.
The greatest trick the patriarchy ever pulled was convincing women to silence themselves #WomenBoycottTwitter
— Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) October 13, 2017
Most notably finding issues with the boycott are women of color who have been ignored for years when making allegations of mistreatment by men, while often feeling little support from white women.
https://twitter.com/ava/status/918718017030168578
When @twitter allowed racist trolls to harass Black actress and comedienne @Lesdoggg where where you #WomenBoycottTwitter?
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) October 13, 2017
Just this week, Jemele Hill was silenced and suspended by her own company, ESPN, and as pointed out by musician Questlove, there was little said by white women to support her.
aight….in addition to supporting the #WomenBoycottTwitter movement i ask you all remember that @JemeleHill is catching hell as well. out.
— ?st (@questlove) October 13, 2017
In response, April Reign, creator of popular hashtag #OscarsSoWhite and notable figure on #BlackTwitter created the hashtag #WOCAffirmation to remind women of color that even though this has been their song since literally the beginning of time, and the outcry from their white counterparts has been minimal at best, their stories are still important, and they still matter.
We are affirming WOC today. Let’s affirm YOU. Write a tweet celebrating who YOU are using #WOCAffirmation (don’t need to tag me). I’ll RT.
— April (@ReignOfApril) October 13, 2017
#WOCAffirmation has sparked Twitter threads of women who were victims of sexual abuse and still suffered social or professional consequences, those who take issue with the boycott sparked by Rose McGowan’s suspension, and women of color who are excelling in whatever their chosen field of employment or creativity.
It's OK to say no. So often we make concessions to make others happy. I credit the WOC on Twitter for helping me tap into that confidence. https://t.co/799TKo5FFU
— Christina Coleman Mullen (@ChrissyCole) October 13, 2017
For @jemelehill @Lesdoggg & other black women on here who deal w/ harassment daily & never get the same support #WocAffirmation
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) October 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/prettydarke/status/918853173263048704
Then, as if to confirm exactly what WOC were talking about, McGowan tweeted the following, which not only angered, but also confused followers, wondering how exactly she felt that was okay to tweet, and from where, exactly, McGowan ever pulled the comparison.
https://twitter.com/kiathecaligirl/status/919700613285363714
The actress has since deleted the tweet, explaining herself by saying she was high when she tweeted it.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/919676996589838336
Hopefully the poorly thought-out, perhaps cannabis-induced tweet will not hurt her cause, because it’s a worthy one that will be better served through solidarity.
I am only here for #WOCAffirmation. My brain is boycotting w #WomenBoycottTwitter but my heart is RTing #WOCAffirmation
— ruthannharnisch (@ruthannharnisch) October 13, 2017
If you are a victim or survivor of sexual assault, resources for support are available through RAINN‘s National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.