Stop flooding social media with black squares using #BlackLivesMatter, activists say

Those black boxes you’re seeing across social media Tuesday may be doing more harm than good, some activists and celebrities have said.

The campaign was initially started by two music executives who used the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused, according to its website. They called for all workers in the music industry to stand in solidarity Tuesday “to take a beat for an honest, reflective and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community.”

It evolved into #BlackoutTuesday, which is a top trending topic on Twitter Tuesday morning. People are making their Facebook profile picture a blank black box, while others are posting the same image on Instagram and Twitter to show their solidarity.

But in doing so, many are also tagging #BlackLivesMatter, making it more difficult for people following the Black Lives Matter movement to search for helpful information as protests are going on throughout the United States over the death of George Floyd, who died while in police custody in Minnesota on Memorial Day.

Kenidra Woods, a Black Lives Matter activist and mental health advocate, shared a video early Tuesday morning of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag filled with the black square on Instagram.

“We know that it’s no intent to harm but to be frank, this essentially does harm the message,” Woods wrote in a post that has been retweeted more than 30,000 times. “We use (the) hashtag to keep ppl updated. PLS stop using the hashtag for black images.”

Singer Kehlani was among the celebrities who vowed to not be on social media Tuesday, standing with #TheShowMustBePaused campaign. A woman replied to her saying the campaign “feels dangerous,” sharing a video scroll of #BlackLivesMatter on Instagram.

“I don’t like this,” responded Kehlani, who later sent several more tweets related to the issue.

Rapper Lil Nas X was also vocal about the situation. “This is not helping us,” he tweeted. “Bro who the hell thought of this?? Ppl need to see what’s going on.”

People are encouraged to use #BlackOutTuesday instead of #BlackLivesMatter when posting the black box.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Stop flooding social media with black squares using #BlackLivesMatter, activists say."