#BlackOutTuesday: Social media 'blackout' and why it matters!

#BlackOutTuesday, a hashtag you may have seen accompanied with a black square on social media, indicates support for the black African-American community, which faces discrimination around the world.

People who have taken part in the #BlackOutTuesday have urged allies not to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, as the latter is aimed at providing critical, on-ground information from the protests raging around the world — from the US cities to Berlin and London.

Numerous artistes, celebrities, organisations, sports team, and TV channels, among others, have posted in support of #BlackOutTuesday, saying they would observe silence, or "go quiet," and instead amplify black voices in order to register the protest against racism and violence from the authorities.

Former baseball player and Twitch streamer shared a video explaining the #BlackOutTuesday.

YouTuber Jack Dunlop said he was not posting any stream or video.

Author and writer Arianna Davis gave a rationale to those who were criticising the initiative, saying it was "just another bold step to waking up society—getting everyone to stop in their tracks and realize we have had ENOUGH".

"We will not let #GeorgeFloyd be just a news cycle," Davis added.

Dunlop, however, shared a link for ways to help and another for people to educate themselves on racism.

English actor and singer Brad Kavanagh shared a video where, when called for help during an attempted robbery, police officers automatically handcuffed the black owners of the business that was being robbed.

Late last month, George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had knelt on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, leading to his death by asphyxiation. Officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane had joined the arrest process but did not do anything to prevent Chauvin from murdering the black man.

Initially, #BlackOutTuesday had started from the music industry, with record companies saying they would disengage from their work and instead reconnect with the community. However, the movement spread across social media, in particular on Twitter and Instagram, as a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

American TV channel for children, Nickelodeon, also went off air and responded to a white individual by saying: "Unfortunately, some kids live in fear every day.

"It's our job to use our platform to make sure their voices are heard and their stories are told."

A similar 24-hour break from social media had occurred last year as well and this year, it seems to be leading to a deeper and more crucial conversation on race, police brutality, and unjust systems of power.

"#BlackOutTuesday directly affects the pockets of major corporations who advertise on IG, as well as Facebook who owns them," social media user Derion Lipford explained on Twitter.

"Imagine trying to run digital ads during this time - visibility and ROI is negatively impacted = loss in marketing investment. That’s how you protest," Lipford added.

Museums also posted in favour of #BlackOutTuesday.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shared a message on his Instagram account.

In a Twitter post, TikTok CEO said the company was "committed to supporting the Black community and underrepresented groups as a whole".

In its Twitter post, Instagram advised users that they could edit their post caption to remove the #blacklivesmatter hashtag and your post will no longer be shown on that hashtag page.

"In some cases, it may take up to 10 minutes for the post to be removed once you edit it," it added.