Recently, word has broken out that multiple big-time corporations (Reddit, Netflix, Sony, and Paramount) have had early consideration of the purchase of user-aggregate film review website Letterboxd.

Letterboxd is a review website like no other. Designed for youthful creatives in film and literature, it is highly accessible and intuitive to its user clients, and is made to integrate popular reviewers with casual reviewers. Combined with a tight moderation team, it is aware to uphold a stance against prejudice and marginalisation. Like all things, it's not perfect, such as the film database it mainly sources from.

This sale has the potential to significantly ruin the website. Because many major corporate parties are sourced in a country of supremacy with extreme centralisation and operate on a base survival instinct of staying afloat via commercial upkeep while often failing to acknowledge the needs of its userbase, Letterboxd could become significantly hollowed out of its community touch. Examples include but not limited to...

• Data harvesting of user credentials
• Subscription costs being inflated and/or shrinkflated that betrays the initial premise of what it initially aimed for (i.e. Moving the streaming filter perk to Patreon subscription instead of Pro, a third ad-based subscription at a cheaper price, etc.)
• Increase of prominency in advertisements of products under the corporation's brand
• Overhauled moderation and algorithms that could use Artificial Intelligence
• Upkeep of political finance through supporting hate and discrimination (white supremacy, disability accusations, transphobia, homophobia, etc.)
• Abuse of the website's private Video Store, incorporating it into any possible subscription-based service the company owns
• Possible removal of movies on the site that goes against the company's core values

And that is merely the start of it all.

Mergers and brand sales a traditional method of making money out of growing and popular technology, but taking it out of rational control just rings the identity out of community care. In a time when living costs and support of diversity are waning, one of the last things we need to lose are our voices and opinions unless audiences are willing to give in to ad time and subscription purchases that support the principles being resisted.

Fortunately, as of July 10th, the discussion has been in early stages. There is a possibility that it won't come to pass, but that chance will always be slim while Letterboxd is on the market since a large business only tracks community engagement of the past and won't be able to foresee the decrease in productivity once a large and engaging community is being used against the people giving the money. It's too risky to allow any more progress in the merger.

If film is about our voices, then we want to talk about film. We cannot afford to keep repeating history.

Sign the petition to help keep Letterboxd remain as our best choice for open words. We won't know how much we had to say until it's gone.