by Mike Indursky, founder and CEO of HEAR ME RAW

This morning I tried to send a tweet on behalf of HEAR ME RAW and a got a message back saying the tweet couldn’t be processed and I should try again later. I asked Kathy, who runs our social media, what she thought the problem might be and she said, “Twitter’s been wonky lately.” Upon hearing my issue she investigated and suddenly said, “Mike, we’re suspended.” I was shocked. Dumbfounded. And before I could even ask “why”, she said, “Make that ‘permanently’ suspended.”

So, why on earth would a father-daughter, mission-led, indie skincare company get permanently suspended from Twitter? What vile and pernicious things have we said or done that caught the ire of the Twitter Police. It could have something to do with the fact that we changed our handle from “Hear Me Raw Beauty” to “Elon Mask”, with the bio saying "Less Musk. More Mask."

You see, we make skincare masks (hence the name idea) along with other skincare products. So when Elon bought Twitter and the ensuing news, noise, craziness skyrocketed, we decided to jump into the fray, call ourselves Elon Mask, and have some fun. Besides, I liked the sound of it. That was just over one month ago. 

The idea was to respond to a tweet from Musk with satirical social commentary typically followed by sarcastically recommending the use of one of our skincare products as a solution to his ills and that of his company.

With all the rage, fury, lies and vicious insults hurled on Twitter every nanosecond, never did we imagine that in one month we’d be cancelled. But that’s what happens when you poke a thin-skinned autocratic bear obsessed with glorifying his self-image, expressing his opinions as unassailable facts, and criticizing and punishing contrary opinions, points of view, and people.

Musk exclaimed that Twitter was to be a bastion of free speech but it quickly became a platform for, as Paddy Chayefsky said best, "the propagation of (his) own personal political propaganda." He pushes and promotes the things he supports and belittles or does away with things he doesn’t. He character assassinates routinely as he did with Dr. Anthony Fauci, helping further destroy the man’s legacy of selfless service to our country and risk his life, while banning reporters who did nothing wrong but report on the fact that former Twitter account @elonjet was "doxxing". (I think it was our mild doxxing comment that did us in, yet we actually supported him on it.)

No, free speech does not start with “what I believe” and end with “what I don’t believe”. But it does when you’re an autocrat. When one person is judge and jury, has no checks and balances, and no board, he goes from being powerful to dangerous. We’re seeing the effects of it in politics in the US and abroad and we’re seeing it here. Pre-Musk Twitter may have had a political bent, although I’m sure I can’t say to which side, but today Twitter is megaphone for thoughts and ideologies of one man. It’s a lesson of absolute power, ego and greed and the dangers that emanate from that.

Okay, so we went to the proverbial gun fight with not a knife but 4 jars of skin cream and we got shot...really fast. Our followers and people who we follow have all been taken away. We have, though, been granted the “honor” of being able to see tweets but we can’t respond or write our own. I can only imagine how many accounts have also been suspended.

Now, had we said something so heinous, pernicious, or hurtful, I would take responsibility. I man up when I screw up. But here, I am unrepentant. Our commentary was witty at best, funny at most, and childish at worst. Still, we will ask to be reinstated. We will promise that we will not mention Elon Musk or Twitter, or use the name Elon Mask in any post. We will do everything we can to get back on so we can share our story and highlight the stories of others. We will not, though, change our values or integrity, or lessen the fight for what we believe in. No matter how big the bear is.

Speaking of the bear, Elon, try The Brightener. You’ll feel better, and that will make everyone else feel better too. Trust me. 

Thank you all for your support!

Mike Indursky, Emma Indursky, and everyone else at HEAR ME RAW