Why you shouldn't use the Black Lives Matter hashtag when posting for Blackout Tuesday

Blackout Tuesday needs a new hashtag
Getty Images

A social media movement designed to express solidarity with protests against racial violence has inadvertently sabotaged the movement.

As part of a Blackout Tuesday protest led by the music industry, social media users are posting images of a black square to commemorate the Black victims of police violence.

But by using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter or #BLM, they have obscured channels sharing vital information about protest movements, donations, missing people and alleged state atrocities.

The issue was flagged by a Twitter user, who posted a video scroll through the #BlackLivesMatter newsfeed.

“My initial thought is it feels dangerous,” she wrote, “because once you click on the blm hashtag you’re directed to an overflow of black images, instead of other more useful content people could look at for information.”

The warning was picked up by singer Kehlani and rapper Chuck Inglish, and has since sparked a reactionary movement, with some believing the ploy to be deliberate.

Instagram user Asher Wilde shared alarm, describing Blackout Tuesday as “a trap”.

“YOU ARE ERASING EVERYTHING WE HAVE WORKED SO HARD FOR OVER THE LAST DAYS. YOU'RE ERASING RESOURCES. THIS IS CYBER WARFARE. SOMEONE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING GETTING YOU TO DO THIS,” reads the caption.

Others are proposing alternative hashtags, to target the protest images more strategically, such as #armedforces, #policedepartment and #buildthewall.

This would put the images in front of challengers of the movement, as opposed to its sufferers.

A protestor holds a burnt American flag during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd
Reuters

The Blackout Tuesday protest traces back to two Black women in the music industry: Jamila Thomas, senior director of marketing at Atlantic Records, and Brianna Agyemang, senior artist campaign manager at Platoon

The duo formed a campaign under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused, calling on the music industry to lead sector-wide protest, as “an industry that has profited predominantly from Black Art.”

TheShowMustBePaused.com states: “Our mission is to hold the industry at large, including major corporations + their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and success of Black people accountable.”

The music industry is holding a blackout on Tuesday
AP

Many artists, production companies and radio stations have responded supportively, in solidarity expressions that became labelled Blackout Tuesday in a process that remains unclear.

Thomas and Agyemang have stressed they were not organising a “24-hour initiative.” They assure: “We are and will be in this fight for the long haul.”

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