Me Too Goes Viral
The MeToo hashtag spread globally following allegations against Harvey Weinstein
October 15, 2017
A Hashtag That Became a Movement
In October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano posted a tweet asking anyone who had been sexually harassed or assaulted to reply with the words "Me Too." Within 24 hours, the hashtag had been used hundreds of thousands of times. Within a week, it had been posted millions of times in 85 countries. The phrase itself had been coined years earlier, in 2006, by activist Tarana Burke, who had created it to help survivors of sexual violence — particularly Black women and girls — find solidarity and support. But the 2017 viral moment transformed it into a global cultural reckoning with sexual harassment and abuse of power.
The Weinstein Effect
The 2017 wave of the movement was triggered by explosive reporting in The New York Times and The New Yorker about film producer Harvey Weinstein. Dozens of women accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault, and rape spanning decades. He had used his enormous power in Hollywood to silence victims and discredit accusers. His fall from power opened the floodgates. In the weeks and months that followed, women in entertainment, media, politics, tech, and many other industries came forward to name men who had abused or harassed them. Many high-profile men lost their jobs, contracts, and reputations. Weinstein was later convicted of rape and sentenced to prison.
Lasting Change and Ongoing Debate
The #MeToo movement changed workplace cultures in measurable ways. Companies updated their harassment policies, HR training expanded, and non-disclosure agreements used to silence victims came under new legal scrutiny. The movement sparked important conversations about consent, power, and accountability. It also generated debate about due process, the treatment of the accused, and whether the movement's benefits were distributed equally across races and classes. Tarana Burke and other leaders pushed to keep the focus on the most marginalized survivors. The movement's legacy is still unfolding, but it fundamentally altered public awareness of how pervasive sexual misconduct has been across industries and cultures.