Twitter Truce: If You Don’t Want to Watch #TheTriggering, You Don’t Have To

Today, March 9, is #TheTriggering. What’s that, you ask? It’s a day for right-leaning social media provocateurs to post deliberately offensive things on Twitter in the purported name of free speech. 

The idea was conceived by Lauren Southern, an anti-feminist activist, and has been embraced by alt-right celebrities like Milo Yiannopoulos. The hashtag was trending on Twitter today: a profound disappointment to left-leaning (anti-harassment anti-GamerGate) figures like Randi Lee Harper, who tweeted her disgust that the company had not taken actions to thwart a hashtag “that mocks those suffering from PTSD.” 

As a private company, Twitter can promote or prohibit the hashtag as it sees fit. 

But here’s the key thing: Users who don’t want to participate in #TheTriggering don’t have to. No one is forcing them to read triggering tweets. In fact, it’s fully possible to mute specific Twitter hashtags. PTSD sufferers can and should use the feature. 

Given that, perhaps cutural warriors can declare a Twitter truce?

Related: “Did Twitter’s Orwellian Trust and Safety Council Get Robert Stacy McCain Banned?”