Tech

Elon Musk’s Twitter Lifts Ban On ‘Misgendering’ And ‘Deadnaming’ Trans People

(Photo by Constanza HEVIA / AFP) (Photo by CONSTANZA HEVIA/AFP via Getty Images)

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
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Twitter altered its “hateful conduct policy” Tuesday to lift its ban on “misgendering” and “deadnaming” transgender people.

The previous policy, enacted in 2018, specifically prohibited users from “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” which included using the wrong pronoun or a person’s previous name. As of April 2023, the sentence regarding transgender individuals has been removed from the “Slurs and Tropes” category.

The previous statement from February read, “We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.”

The updated version has the same description without any mention of “misgendering” or “deadnaming” individuals identifying as transgender.

Prior to Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s takeover, countless users were suspended for violating the platform’s “hateful conduct policy” over their tweets regarding gender. The Babylon Bee, a satirical news site, was famously locked out of its Twitter account in March 2022 for posting an article that jokingly labeled Dr. Rachel Levine, the transgender Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the outlet’s “Man of the Year.”

The site then locked the account of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for accurately pointing out that Levine, a biological male, fathered children and then “transitioned” into being a woman in 2014. He called out the feminists for showing no outrage about Levine being named USA Today’s “Woman of the Year” in 2022. (RELATED: ‘It’s About Silencing Dissent’: Charlie Kirk Slams Twitter For Suspension Over Rachel Levine Tweet)

The site then censored Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson for posting screenshots of the Babylon Bee and Kirk’s posts, claiming he “violated the Twitter Rules.” It also locked Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks’ account for calling Levine a man.

The account of conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey was temporarily suspended by Twitter in August 2021 for calling a biologically male transgender weightlifter a man.