In a move that has sparked criticism from advocacy groups, Twitter has quietly updated its hateful conduct policy to remove a section that protected transgender people from misgendering and deadnaming. The change was spotted by GLAAD, which has condemned the move and called attention to the risks this poses to the safety of trans users on the platform.
Twitter’s original policy, which was implemented in 2018, prohibited the targeted use of slurs or other content that reinforces negative stereotypes or degrades protected categories, including the targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals. However, the company has now removed the last sentence from this policy without any public announcement or explanation.
While Twitter’s policy page indicates that it was last updated in April 2023, GLAAD points out that the change was actually made on April 8th, which has led to questions about why the company didn’t announce the change or provide any context for the update.
In response to the move, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis released a statement criticizing Twitter’s decision and highlighting the risk this poses to trans users. Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at Harvard’s Cyberlaw Clinic, also flagged the change, saying that it “greenlights further targeting of trans users”.
Despite the criticism, Twitter has yet to publicly comment on the rule change or provide any explanation for the removal of the section protecting transgender people. This lack of transparency has raised concerns among advocates and users alike.
Elon Musk’s involvement in the decision has also been called into question. As CEO, Musk has previously signaled that he wanted to walk back the rules, and one of his first moves was to restore a number of high profile users who had been banned under the previous policy. Bloomberg also reported that Musk instructed staff to “review” the section of the company’s hateful conduct rules that protected transgender people.
The lack of transparency around the policy change, combined with Musk’s previous comments, has led to concerns about the safety of trans users on the platform and the company’s commitment to protecting marginalized communities.
