Transgender activists and their allies are expressing outrage after restrictions on “dead-naming” and misgendering were deleted from Twitter’s Terms of Service.
The policy was enacted in 2018 before tech billionaire Elon Musk bought the popular platform for $44 billion. On Sunday, Musk opined that declarations of preferred pronouns were “virtue-signaling” that could be used as a shield by bad people.
Two days later, the policy against misgendering was changed.
Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, told the Associated Press that the change in policy would lead to violence against transgender people.
“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,” said Ellis.
“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 and violence,” she added.
Others attacked Twitter with their tweets.
“Twitter lifts it’s policy on targeted misgendering and deadnaming and the freaks are out gleefully misgendering and deadnaming every prominent trans person as an achievement. It’s not about speech, it’s about bullies wanting to harass people because of who they are,” said activist Alejandra Caraballo.
“Every decision Musk makes is bad for free speech, safety, business,” tweeted attorney Nora Benavidez.
“This is absolutely exhausting. Every day something else happens to show just how much people despise trans people and don’t care about what happens to us and it’s really f***ing overwhelming and frightening,” said a user who identifies as a bisexual.
At least one other account called the policy change a “genocidal move.”
Some public schools have changed their policies to include dead-naming and misgendering as “slurs” and threatened to suspend students who refuse to follow the new rules.
Here’s more about Twitter under Elon Musk:
Elon Musk Stuns Hosts with His Brutally Honest Answer About Running Twitter | @RubinReportwww.youtube.com
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