Change.org, the online petition organization, is just one of the sites where people can express views in today's world of interactive media. Recently, select material posted on the open online platform has raised questions and uproar as it is classified as hate speech.
Change.org's mission, as stated on its website, is to "empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see. Our vision is a world in which no one is powerless and making change is a part of daily life." The petition topics include gay rights, education, animals and the environment, among others.
Ben Rattray and Mark Dimas started Change.org as a social enterprise in 2007. According to the website, the two Stanford classmates wanted to empower people to change their communities. For the first few years of its existence, Rattray and Dimas tried to do this through online social fundraising to group volunteerism to virtual political action groups. In 2010, the founders rebuilt the site to focus on citizen-driven collective action, providing people the tools to start, join, and win campaigns for social change. With this the site took off.
Today, Change.org describes itself as "a profitable venture with over 150 employees in 18 countries, growing by more than 2 million new users a month, and empowering its users to win multiple campaigns every day around the world." The site also states more than 100 million people in 196 countries are creating change in their communities, while more than 100 thousand organizations are advancing their causes and connecting with new supporters.
LGBT activist Michael Rogers, executive director of Netroots Connect and owner of the website Raw story, provided a response to Windy City Times on Change.org and the scrutiny of the petitions regarded as hate speech. Rogers describes himself as someone with strong opinions. When talking about Change.org, he expressed his frustration with the site's allowance of such petitions that push hate. The topics of marriage equality and trans issues, he said, particularly frustrate him.
"There's no queer people that have a real voice in the organization," said Rogers, who said he learned from an inside source that a Change.org gay campaigner petitioned and begged that a Caitlyn Jenner petition not happen and it was posted anyway. "None. None. Everyone at the top is all about straight people and I think they're all white too [he counted the Change.org's staff page to see how many people of color, living in the U.S. are listed to back up his statement]. There are no gay people who are making the decisions."
"As an open platform, anyone can use our platform no matter who they are, where they live, and what they believe," Change.org said in its community guidelines. "This is why you'll see an extremely wide range of petitions, as they've all been created by people in the community. Our role is to make sure the platform is a powerful vehicle for change while remaining as safe as possible for our users." [Note: Change.org declined interview requests from Windy City Times.]
"It's a lot easier to hate from behind the computer keyboard," said Rogers. "The web is a free and open space, we can't change that, nor am I suggesting we do. So, the question becomes 'what do we do with it?' 'How do we harness its power and how do we respect the truth?' Change.org has built a model on the web—I'm not suggesting that they should be forced to shut down over hate [speech], certainly it's hate speech. … No matter how you slice it, they have taken the power of the Internet and now use it to raise money from bad people, to get paid money from bad people. They're out there marketing the very names of our enemies for money."
While speaking out on issues and being open to disagreement and listening to others' opinions are some specs listed under their "Dos" list in the Community Guidelines, some bullet points in the "Don'ts" list seem to be in violation—namely, "No hate speech."
"We're fans of free speech, but we don't allow hate speech," reads the site. "Hate speech is typically the advocacy of beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people based on characteristics such as their age, color, disability, ethnic origin, gender identity, nationality, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, medical condition, or veteran status."
With these clear-cut guidelines, one might question the policing policy of content posted. A user from Fort Worth, Texas, posted a petition a few weeks ago entitled "Revoke Caitlyn Jenner's Olympic Medals." The user addressed to the International Olympic Committee, demanding Jenner be stripped of her 1976 Olympic Gold medal she won as Bruce Jenner with the argument that "she has always believed herself to be truly female, and therefore, was in violation of committee rules regarding women competing in men's sports and vice versa."
"We urge Ms. Jenner to support the transgender community by giving up the medals earned by competing against the wrong gender," the posted letter read, which currently has over 15,000 signatures.
Weeks after the petition was initially posted, the company acknowledged the high number of user flags on the statement. As a result they tacked on a note confirming comments on the petition have been disabled for violating community guidelines; however, the petition still remains published as "Change.org is an open platform and doesn't endorse any petitions."
Change.org states it only removes petitions in rare instances where the petition itself is violent, hateful, illegal or involved harassment or bullying.
"It's a travesty that they would encourage the murder of transgender individuals and that's exactly what they do when they allow hate [speech]," said Rogers, explaining these petitions make out trans individuals to be less than anybody else. "They say that petition doesn't disparage a whole group of people. Now you tell me how that petition doesn't speak to what trans people have done over the years and then all that should be taken away from them in the course of transitioning. It's just stunning to me that they allow that to stay on their site."
Another example of LGBT hate speech came from a user from Encinitas, California posted a petition to "stop gay marriage" a year ago.
"One of the main reasons why the State bestows numerous benefits on marriage is that by its very nature and design, marriage provides the normal conditions for a stable, affectionate, and moral atmosphere that is beneficial to the upbringing of children—all fruit of the mutual affection of the parents," the petition reads. "This aids in perpetuating the nation and strengthening society, an evident interest of the State.
"Homosexual 'marriage' does not provide such conditions. Its primary purpose, objectively speaking, is the personal gratification of two individuals whose union is sterile by nature. It is not entitled, therefore, to the protection the State extends to true marriage."
Other groups beside the LGBT community have also faced hate speech in the form of a petition.
Just recently, a petition was posted from a user from Claremont, North Carolina supporting the confederate flag. The user argues that the flag has been in our nation for centuries and is not related to racism or criminal activities, therefore it should not be banned. The post currently has more than 12,000 supporters.
"This isn't about how do we educate kids, this isn't even about choice and abortion, this isn't about if there should be a pipeline, this is about real people's lives," Rogers said. "This is real people's lives that they don't care. They just don't care what they're doing brings people down."
Change.org is a social enterprise and certified B Corporation. The site explains in its model, "It displays advertising in the form of sponsored petitions. Revenue comes from organizational clients and users. Like other prominent online platforms, our Advertising Guidelines do not allow hateful or discriminatory content, and like all companies, we reserve the right to decline advertisements on a case-by-case basis to protect the best interests of the company and our users."
Rogers said while he does not like their business model, he accepts it. However, his extreme dislike stems from marketing and allowing hate to individuals. He goes on to explain the site has done this by permitting petitions putting people's HIV status or petitions claiming someone as a rapist of which Change.org will not remove.
"You have these organizations that are handling bundles of money in order to reach the names of other conservative signers," Rogers said of the business model. "That's how their [business] model works. They're all about, 'We'll find people who hate along with your people, so we're willing to rent you for money.' … Then they say, 'Well, that doesn't disparage an entire group of people.' Then, and this is the most offensive, they won't take down petitions against gay marriage equality. They'll leave those up, but they take down petitions against interracial marriage equality. If that isn't homophobia, I don't know what is. That's about as homophobic as it can get in my book."
