Santa Clara DA Announces Office's Exit From Twitter

CAMPBELL, CA — Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced he will deactivate his office's Twitter account in a Dec. 5 news release on his office's website.

Citing the explosion of hate speech on the popular communications platform, Rosen, in the news release, said the decision "follows increasing hatred, bigotry and antisemitism on the platform and Twitter owner Elon Musk's own statements and posts, such as a meme used by racists and antisemites."

Rosen is asking all elected District Attorneys throughout the United States to take their Offices off Twitter, as well.

In his final tweet, which was also pasted on the DA's Facebook page, Rosen said the following:

"As Americans, we have the freedom to loudly express our political opinions and strongly disagree with each other. However, when that speech crosses the line into hatred, racism and antisemitism, all of our precious and hard fought freedoms are undermined and our democracy is weakened. Every American has a moral obligation to fight against hate speech. There are many ways to do that, large and small. Here’s one way: Quit Twitter. My Office – the largest prosecutor's office in Northern California – is quitting Twitter.

Some think that allowing hatred, encouraging it, and standing beside it equates with free speech and constitutional liberty. That is not a principled stand. That is complicity. That is what many Germans did in the 1930s and what many South Africans did in the 1980s. It is what Elon Musk is doing in the 2020s.

Anyone who uses Twitter has noticed the proliferation of extremist posts in their daily feed. Many of these handles were previously banned by Twitter because they spread hatred and bigotry. Now they are back. That is not free speech. It is a cynical marketing strategy.

Mr. Musk is hiding behind the curtain of being a defender of balanced public dialogue. Yet he himself has used Twitter to spread hatred and bigotry. In a now-deleted Tweet, Mr. Musk used the antisemitic meme Pepe the Frog. If antisemitism is okay, then so is homophobia, misogyny, and racism. That may help Mr. Musk make money. But it can erode our democracy and destroy our country by dividing Americans against each other.

I ask other District Attorneys around our nation to join me in standing against hatred and bigotry by leaving Twitter. We proudly represent the People, all of them. As American prosecutors, we speak with one voice – against crime, violence, greed, and hatred. We don’t need 280 characters or a Billionaire’s app to say, “Bigotry has no home in the land of the free and the home of the brave."

The Office’s Twitter account will be deactivated on Dec. 6, 2022. Those who wish to continue to see communications from the District Attorney's office can still follow the DA's Office on Facebook or its website.