Twitter Removes Safeties for Trans People In Updated Conduct Policy
Image: Elon Musk with Twitter Logo/James Duncan Davidson
Twitter has quietly updated its Hateful Conduct Policy, removing long-standing protections for trans and gender-diverse individuals.
First reported by LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD, the policy originally prevented the harassment of trans individuals based on their gender identity, stating:
“We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes, or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.”
The updated policy removes the final sentence in its entirety, eliminating protections that have been in place since 2018.
Amplifying Bigotry and Hate
This amendment arrives alongside changes to Twitter’s enforcement process, which, as opposed to removals, suspensions, and bans, now only applies warning labels to content “identified as potentially violating rules around Hateful Conduct.”
These warnings will target content “at a tweet level only”, according to Twitter Safety, and “will not affect a user’s account”, leaving bigoted users essentially unpunished for spreading hatred and harassment.
In a time where almost 60% of LGBTQ+ Twitter users have felt an increase in “abusive and hateful speech on Twitter since Elon Musk took over as CEO in late 2022”, according to a 2023 survey by Amnesty International, these changes work only to further alienate and marginalize queer people on the platform.
“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,” says Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD.
“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 trans users at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real-world discrimination and violence.”
When approached for comment, Twitter responded with a poop emoji – an automated reply set up by CEO Elon Musk for all incoming media enquiries.
