Michael Shellenberger, one of the journalists involved with The Twitter Files, talks about the openness and transparency of the platforms and explains why staying with The Evening Edit is here.
Twitter no longer considers naming or mis-naming transgender people “hateful behavior” under its policies.
The social media giant earlier this month quietly lifted its ban on users referring to transgender people by their previous pre-transition names or their biological sex, in the platform’s last major change since Elon Musk owned the company took over last fall.
Elon Musk has made a series of controversial changes to Twitter since acquiring the social media platform last year. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File/AP Newsroom)
In 2018, Twitter imposed specific protections for transgender people, stating in its rules: “We prohibit attacking others with repeated insults, tropes, or other content intended to dehumanize, dehumanize, negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category.” or to reinforce misgender or dead naming of transgender people.”
On April 8, that last sentence was removed, according to LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, which condemned the move.
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“Twitter’s decision to secretly reverse its long-standing policy is the latest example of how insecure the company is to users and advertisers alike,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO, said in a statement. “Social media companies committed to maintaining safe environments for LGBTQ people should work to improve hate speech policies, not delete long-standing ones.”
GLAAD was supported by several other groups and individuals, who tweeted their criticism of Twitter’s move as “unsafe,” while others praised the policy change under Musk, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist.”
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The Christian satirical site The Babylon Bee declared: “Twitter no longer enforces the leftist anti-free speech and anti-reality policies that criticize police over transgenderism,” and the conservative Daily Caller news outlet tweeted: “It’s safe now men.” to call, men.”
Twitter’s decision to lift the ban on deadnaming or gender misrepresentation of transgender people drew both criticism and praise. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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Twitter also relaxed its enforcement of hateful behavior, saying it would now flag tweets that might violate these guidelines with warning labels, rather than removing them outright like the platform had previously done.