#DeleteUber

Out of many recent trending hashtags on twitter one stands out: #DeleteUber. The hashtag soon began to trend across the “twittersphere.”

After President Trump’s executive order banning refugees and immigrants from certain Muslim countries to enter the US, a protest broke out at Kennedy Airport. The union that acts on behalf of New York’s taxi drivers supported the protest by refusing to provide transportation from the airport. New York taxi drivers, who predominantly are immigrants, disagreed with Trump’s new executive order and joined the movement.

Shortly after, Uber tweeted that the ‘surge price’ (a feature that causes rides to become more expensive during a busy time) would be turned off at the JFK airport due to long wait times. However, many individuals did not see this as an innocent notification. Instead, many saw it as a way for Uber to undermine the protest, the taxi union, and generate more profit.

This led to many Uber users to not only delete the app, but also publicly share their outrage on Twitter with screenshots of their newly deleted accounts:

This reaction shows how closely politics and social media is intertwined, and it will be interesting to watch how this movement may affect Uber’s revenue this quarter. This reaction shows how closely politics and social media is intertwined, and it will be interesting to watch how this movement may affect Uber’s revenue this quarter.