Twitter quietly removed its policy prohibiting the targeting misgendering and deadnaming of transgender people this month. The policy, enacted in 2018, said that intentionally and repeatedly calling a transgender person by the wrong name or pronouns is against Twitter’s terms of service and could result in a suspension.
Current Twitter guidelines still say that targeting individuals based on their gender, gender identity or sexuality is against Twitter policy, yet the phrase “This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals” has been removed.
The change was initially noticed by LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), which issued a statement on Tuesday calling the change dangerous.
“Twitter’s decision to covertly roll back its longtime policy is the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike,” GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said. “This decision to roll back LGBTQ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterest and Meta, which all maintain similar policies to protect their transgender users at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real world discrimination.”
Conservative users on Twitter applauded the decision once it was revealed Tuesday and took the opportunity to ridicule the dead policy.
LGBT organisation GLAAD, which advocates for women’s spaces to be taken away and children to be medically mutilated, has released a statement attacking Twitter for removing a previous policy that classified misgendering someone as ‘hateful conduct’
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 19, 2023
The CEO of GLAAD said that… pic.twitter.com/ENRrghLuNw</ a>
The policy has been a point of contention on the platform for years. Before Elon Musk took over the company last year, several prominent conservative and anti-trans activists were banned over the misgendering policy.
Possibly most famously, popular conservative commentator Jordan Peterson was suspended from the platform last year after repeatedly deadnaming and misgendering actor Elliot Page. Deadnaming means calling a person by a name used prior to switching genders.
The decision to roll back the policy at Twitter comes at a turbulent time for the platform. On top of firing nearly 80% of Twitter staff, Mr. Musk disbanded the Trust and Safety Council and modified the press contact for the company to automatically respond with a poop emoji.
Since his takeover, conservative commentators have flourished on the site. Several figures, including Mr. Peterson, were reinstated in an effort to decrease overall regulations on Twitter speech.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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