Issue and Opponent: After closing his $44-billion purchase of Twitter on October 28, Elon Musk has had a rocky start after taking over as the new boss. The company is being criticized due to the changes to moderation and verification methods increasing the fears and concerns about disinformation. Users are also concerned about the fact that hate speech and white supremacist conspiracy theories are allowed on Twitter, and this could drive out people of color, minorities, and women. Musk’s unfair labor practices are also a concerning issue for activists, since former employees of the firm’s human rights, accessibility experience, communications, and curation departments have shared that they were either let go or their departments were dissolved.
Dilemma Action: On November 17, 2022, messages in simple white text, flashed onto the walls of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, protesting against Elon Musk’s supposed free speech and unfair labor practices. Insults included “supreme parasite”, “mediocre manchild”, “worthless billionaire” and “space Karen”, according to footage posted online. The projections were the work of Alan Marling, a Bay Area projection activist. Crowds began to gather outside, and the projections started to go viral online. Marling stated that he projected other messages against Musk on October 26 and November 9 and 11, 2022. He also projected previously at Twitter against Donald Trump and started there in 2017.
Outcome: After about one hour of projecting the messages, Marling packed up his equipment and went home. Activists are encouraging advertisers to pull away from the social media platform, and many users, including celebrities, are closing their accounts to show their disagreement with Musk’s practices. Musk said in a tweet that he is suing activists for these projections. Projection activism is considered a new nonviolent, silent way to protest, that allows people to interact with it as much or as little as they wish. There is no evidence of other people joining the artist in these demonstrations.