We the undersigned are writing to say that the excuses for failing to protect users from online abuse have to stop. Today.

We’re calling on your companies to enact baseline measures to shield users from the death and rape threats, doxing, and racist harassment too many people face each day when logging onto your platforms. You say you’re defending free speech. You say you’re prioritizing diversity and equity. But by allowing online abusers to target, intimidate, and effectively silence countless users—particularly women, people of color, religious and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ people—you’re enabling the chilling of speech. We’re here to say: There’s so much more you can do to reduce the harm of online abuse without infringing on free expression.

You have at your fingertips some of the most talented engineers, programmers, product designers, and coders who—with your direction and support—could build better tools to:

1. Protect users from online abuse by giving its targets greater control to reduce risk and calibrate exposure;
2. Support users experiencing online abuse by revamping reporting and making it easier to ask for help; and
3. Hold chronic abusers accountable by creating a transparent system of escalating penalties and enforcing them consistently, with recourse to speedy appeals.

We’re joining with the free expression and literary group PEN America and the Coalition Against Online Violence to demand concrete, actionable changes to #FightOnlineAbuseNow.

You can find a more extensive readout of the changes PEN America is calling for here: https://pen.org/report/no-excuse-for-abuse/