#UntrendOctober Campaign Suggests Twitter Remove Trending Topics Before The Election

Ahead of the 2020 United States Presidential Election, hundreds are calling on Twitter to remove its "Trending Topics" feature in an effort to stifle conspiracies and disinformation. The movement, called #UntrendOctober, has already attracted some big names.

It's no secret that social media--and in particular, the disinformation spread therein--played a massive role in the 2016 United States Presidential Election. Conspiracies like Pizzagate and alleged Russian social media interference dominated social media that year, and smaller trends such as Vote From Home and #DraftOurDaughters":https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/draftourdaughters took advantage of social media to try and hoodwink Democratic voters away from Hillary Clinton with lies and conspiracies.

Two days ago, NBC journalist Ben Collins put out the suggestion that if Twitter wants to avoid a massive spread of disinformation, it should remove its Trending Topics feature for the month leading up to the election November 3rd.

"Gaming Trending Topics was Wikileaks’ strategy," he wrote. "It’s how Pizzagate emerged from the fringe."

Wanna singlehandedly stop a disinfo catastrophe in October?

Tell Twitter to eliminate Trending Topics for the whole month.

Gaming Trending Topics was Wikileaks’ strategy. It’s how Pizzagate emerged from the fringe.

And for what? Slightly more engagement?

Just turn it off. https://t.co/qIYZHy8aRu

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 30, 2020

The suggestion caught the attention of actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who wrote, "Twitter is a super-spreader of lies and hate… Stop disinformation. Save Democracy."

.Twitter</a> is a super-spreader of lies and hate. <br><br>Tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">jack and tell him to pause Trending Topics before the election.

Stop disinformation.

Save democracy. #UntrendOctoberhttps://t.co/TZyjI8TC4c

— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) August 30, 2020

The actor linked to a Rallystarter website created by a member of progressive union Sleeping Giants where users can call upon Jack Dorsey and other decision-makers at Twitter to remove the Trending Topics feature in October. As of September 1st, just two days after Collins' initial idea, the petition has over 430 signatures.

This was created by Sleeping Giants follower ericfacas</a> to email <a href="https://twitter.com/Twitter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">twitter board members as a part of the #UntrendOctober campaign:https://t.co/328TTcKMYY

— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) August 30, 2020

Twitter has taken unprecedented steps to curtail disinformation during the Trump presidency, including flagging several of the President's tweets for spreading disinformation about topics such as mail-in voting and inciting violence. Starting in March, they began doing the same with tweets that showed manipulated media "if it is likely to cause harm."