United Voices of the World (UVW) union’s Twitter account, which had over 20,000 followers, has been deleted by the platform, erasing a decade of predominantly Black, brown and migrant worker’s voices on the site. As a grassroots union representing some of the most marginalised workers in the UK, UVW relied on Twitter to access supporters across the country and in the broader international labour movement. UVW’s account was used to amplify the voices of low-paid, migrant and precarious workers and to mobilise support for their struggles for dignity, equality and respect. The union had used the platform, now owned by the wealthiest man in the world, to raise tens of thousands of pounds to support the strikes of predominantly migrant cleaners.  UVW’s account was suspended in December and deleted in early January. The platform ignored multiple requests to restore the union’s account. UVW is back on Twitter with the same username: @UVWunion.  Petros Elia, general secretary for United Voices of the World, said:

 “Elon Musk isn’t interested in free speech for workers. Under his ownership, Twitter has reinstated the accounts of neo-Nazis and racists while silencing workers’ and progressive voices. Silencing our union on Musk’s platform is yet another example of the structural racism and stamping on working people our members experience every day. What’s happened to our account shows the need for the workers’ movement to move away from corporate-owned social media platforms. If you want to support our members’ struggles, join our Solidarity Network, where you can hear from us directly.”

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Image: Matthew Paulson / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed