Update:
X’s newly implemented misgendering policy is a result of a Brazilian court ruling, which prohibits misgendering or making fun of someone based on their gender identity. Elon Musk has clarified to say that the rule should not apply outside of Brazil.
Original post:
Elon Musk’s platform X/Twitter has reinstated woke rules against “misgendering” and “deadnaming” transgender people after dropping the rules to great fanfare last year.
Ars Technica reports that X/Twitter recently updated its abuse and harassment policy page to include a new section explaining its rules against intentionally using the wrong pronouns for a person or referring to them by a name they no longer use — called “deadnaming” by woke LGBT radicals. The new “Use of Prior Names and Pronouns” section states that X/Twitter will “reduce the visibility of posts” that incorrectly gender a person or use their old name rather than their new one adopted during transition.
This move comes after X/Twitter dropped its longstanding prohibition on deadnaming and misgendering of transgender users back in April 2023. At the time, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis criticized the change as “the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike” under the ownership of Elon Musk, who has a history of liking and sharing anti-trans content.
Under the updated policy, X/Twitter will take action when it hears directly from the target of the misgendering or deadnaming, “given the complexity of determining whether such a violation has occurred.” GLAAD senior director Jenni Olson told Ars this unfairly places the burden on targets to report their own abuse. However, she acknowledged that explicit policies against deadnaming and misgendering are preferable to vague ones that leave violators unsure if they’re breaking rules.
Chay Raichik of Libs of TikTok questioned the change and asked X/Twitter owner Elon Musk to comment on the situation, to which Musk said the policy only applies to “repeated, targeted harassment of a particular person.”
Musk responded to Raichik posting a screenshot of the platform’s “Use of Prior Names and Pronouns” policy by writing, “This is just about repeated, targeted harassment of a particular person.”
This is just about repeated, targeted harassment of a particular person
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2024
When posts are flagged for misgendering or deadnaming, X/Twitter will reduce their visibility by removing them from search results, home timelines, trends, and notifications. They will also be downranked in reply sections and only viewable on authors’ profiles. Furthermore, they won’t display ads — a move likely aimed at preventing another advertiser pullout like the one X suffered last year over hate speech controversies.
