--- title: That Blackout Tuesday Screen Draw Criticism. Here's a Fix description: “Blackout Tuesday“ posts are drawing criticism from protesters and supporters. canonical: https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-06-02T15:09:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:01.069Z og:title: 'Blackout Tuesday' Posts Draw Criticism From Protesters og:description: Supporters are asking people not to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. Here's a possible solution og:url: https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26f0f73adec49477/698a0ed9096a942b906a83bb/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2121 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: Blackout og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Blackout Tuesday' Posts Draw Criticism From Protesters twitter:description: Supporters are asking people not to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. Here's a possible solution twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26f0f73adec49477/698a0ed9096a942b906a83bb/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Social Media Posts Honoring 'Blackout Tuesday' With the Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter Draw Criticism From Protesters > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d9bb9bd1-4e54-4c51-a47d-3dea5c7d8cf9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Peaceful Protest Moments Across The Nation Over The Death Of George Floyd [Watch (HLS stream): Peaceful Protest Moments Across The Nation Over The Death Of George Floyd](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XiIpTYLk.m3u8) (2:21)  _Published 2020-06-01. Peaceful Protest Moments Across The Nation Over The Death Of George Floyd_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 2, 2020 3:09 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 2, 2020 3:09 PM UTC Instagram is filled with black squares today. It’s a powerful image, but one that has also drawn criticism and caution from those it is intended to [support](https://time.com/5844030/george-floyd-minneapolis-history/). The Blackout Tuesday, or Black Out Tuesday, movement is a spinoff of “The Show Must Be Paused” campaign started by music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang. They wanted their industry to “take a beat for an honest reflective, and productive conversation,” according to [the campaign’s website](https://www.theshowmustbepaused.com/), as a way to mark the lives lost and to show support for the ongoing [George Floyd](https://time.com/5845369/george-floyd-protests-malike-sidibe/) and Black Lives Matter [protests](https://time.com/5846449/trump-church-protests/). [As _Rolling Stone_ reports](https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/music-business-blackout-tuesday-1008685/), the campaign has resulted in some controversy, but musicians including [Rihanna](https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/1267700301064138754), who also paused sales at Fenty, and Drake joined the blackout on Tuesday, posting blank squares to their accounts. > [](https://twitter.com/pausetheshow/status/1267316487909326848) As the [symbolic show of support](https://time.com/5846072/black-people-protesting-white-people-responsible-what-happens-next/) spread across Instagram people attached the #BlackLivesMatter or #blm hashtag to the blacked out images. The popularity of the online symbol quickly overwhelmed those two hashtags and made it challenging, for protesters and activists to use those hashtags to gather information about police actions and protest movements and share important resources. “Stop posting black squares under the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on Instagram,” wrote [Twitter user Anthony James Williams](https://twitter.com/anthoknees/status/1267727095934799872). “It is intentionally and unintentionally hiding critical information we are using on the ground and online … Tell me how this helps Black folk. It doesn’t, and it in fact makes things a lot worse. Tell your friends and fam to stop.” > [](https://twitter.com/anthoknees/status/1267727095934799872) Now, Kehlani, Lil Nas X, and many others are using their platforms to point out the problem and asking supporters to stop using those two hashtags. > [](https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1267707163473936384) > [](https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1267719607919316997) A simple fix—and one that many on the sites are suggesting—is for social media users who want to post a black screen and [support the movement](https://time.com/5845752/america-has-its-knee-on-us-george-floyds-death-was-a-breaking-point-protests/) to remove the #BLM and #[BlackLivesMatter](https://time.com/5844645/george-floyds-shows-we-cannot-wait-end-racism/) hashtags from their posts. > [](https://twitter.com/KenidraRWoods%5F/status/1267725828475027456) > [](https://twitter.com/whackkat/status/1267717654527131650) > [](https://twitter.com/TATIANNANOW/status/1267738738010001410) > [](https://twitter.com/anthoknees/status/1267727095934799872) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/"},"headline":"Social Media Posts Honoring 'Blackout Tuesday' With the Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter Draw Criticism From Protesters","datePublished":"2020-06-02T15:09:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:01.069Z","description":"Supporters are asking people not to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag","url":"https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/","keywords":["Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26f0f73adec49477/698a0ed9096a942b906a83bb/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26f0f73adec49477/698a0ed9096a942b906a83bb/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Blackout","caption":"Blackout","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/","name":"Social Media Posts Honoring 'Blackout Tuesday' With the Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter Draw Criticism From Protesters"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Peaceful Protest Moments Across The Nation Over The Death Of George Floyd","description":"Peaceful Protest Moments Across The Nation Over The Death Of George Floyd","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XiIpTYLk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-06-01T21:21:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XiIpTYLk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/","duration":"PT2M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5846514/blackout-tuesday-screen/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```