Celebrating Pride, not corporations

Big Tech has a long way to go before they can call themselves LGBTQ+ friendly

Here at Fairplay, we believe that every child should be affirmed and supported by their families, schools, and communities, so they can truly benefit from time and space to imagine, play, learn, and grow free from the interference of marketers. That’s why we love to celebrate Pride month!

Pride is a celebration of so many of the values we here at Fairplay hold dear: community, resilience, joy, and connection. It’s a time to celebrate the differences that make our world radiant, to celebrate the love of queer families, and to support children’s identities. But one thing we don’t love about Pride? Rainbow-washing!

For the LBGTQ+ community, corporate rainbow-washing is a familiar sight: companies hoping to boost profits drop a rainbow logo or a rainbow product to curry favor with the public, all while continuing shady business practices that disproportionately affect underrepresented groups. Facebook rolls out a rainbow-colored logo, Shake Shack announces a rainbow confetti shake, and Instagram makes pride-themed hashtags turn rainbow-colored for the month. 

But that’s not really support for the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, while corporations like Facebook showcase their Pride-themed logos, they utterly fail to promote their LGBTQ+ users’ wellbeing.

A new report shows that none of the top social media platforms are truly safe for the LGBTQ+ community. While these platforms could use their tools to slow down harrassment, they don’t want to. Why? Because they’ve made hate speech a part of their business model. Facebook, for example, has made thousands of dollars from anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups, and they allow anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech to proliferate on their platform. What’s more, the algorithms used by all social media platforms perpetuate gender bias and tell queer kids that they don’t belong.

A rainbow logo and an Instagram Live can’t remedy the harm of perpetuating violence against LGBTQ+ adults and children, and creating an environment where it’s okay to abuse someone – even a child – for their gender or sexuality. 

Even worse, the illegal data collection practices of Big Tech platforms combined with their unwillingness to effectively protect children on those platforms has created a particularly unsafe environment for LGBTQ+ kids. LGBTQ+ children are far more likely to experience sexual abuse online than their non-LGBTQ+ peers.

We want to see a media environment in which the spectrum of identity is normalized, not weaponized, or monetized as it is by Big Tech companies. If platforms like Facebook want to clean their images with a quick rainbow-wash, they’re looking in the wrong place: only when these companies are regulated and stop causing harm to our children – LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ alike – can they really claim to be supporters of the LGBTQ+ community.

Let’s be clear. The business model of tech is not here for any children, let alone our LGBTQ+ children. And at Fairplay, we believe that letting kids be kids includes all kids. Let’s let her be her, him be him, them be them, all without the interference of corporate marketing and the harms that come with it.