Twitter drops policy against misgendering, deadnaming transgender people - Action News
Home WebMail Friday, November 22, 2024, 04:06 PM | Calgary | -10.8°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
World

Twitter drops policy against misgendering, deadnaming transgender people

Twitter has quietly removed a policy against the "targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals," raising concerns that the Elon Musk-owned platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups.

Social media company originally brought in the policy in 2018

A hand is shown displaying a phone with the Twitter logo.
A phone screen displays the Twitter logo against a Twitter webpage background in photo illustration from April 2022. An LGBTQ group is criticizing the company's move to drop its policy against misgendering a person or using a transgender persons name before they transitioned. (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

Twitter has quietly removed a policy against the "targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals," raising concerns that the Elon Musk-owned platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups.

Twitter enacted the policy against deadnaming, or using a transgender person's name before they transitioned, as well as purposefully using the wrong gender for someone as a form of harassment, in 2018.

On Monday, Twitter also said it will only put warning labels on some tweets that are "potentially" in violation of its rules against hateful conduct. Previously, the tweets were removed.

It was in this policy update that Twitter appears to have deleted the line against deadnaming from its rules.

"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 Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of the advocacy group GLAAD.

"This decision to roll back LGBTQ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterestand 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 said.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a message for comment Tuesday.