X’s anti-trans policy reversal draws ire and concerns from LGBTQ+ advocates and Twitter users

In a contentious move that has drawn sharp criticism from advocacy groups and users alike, X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has significantly altered its policy on anti-trans hate speech, essentially reversing itself on a prohibition it recently implemented.

The shift comes amid backlash from right-wing users and influencers, notably including Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok, and has raised more questions about the platform’s commitment to protecting LGBTQ+ users from harassment.

The original policy, designed to reduce the visibility of posts that misgendered or deadnamed users if reported by the targeted individual, was quickly revised to clarify its narrow scope.

Raichik had complained to Musk about the policy change – a complaint Musk responded to promising that Riachik wouldn’t be suspended for misgendering transgender people.

After several right-wing influencers piled on, X changed the wording of its policy.

On Friday, far-right extremist influencer Tim Pool announced on X that he would stop advertising on the platform.

“I will be terminating all ad spend commitments and verified accounts over X reinstating the misgendering policy,” Pool wrote.

Musk responded to Pool on Saturday, assuring the anti-LGBTQ+ influencer that bigotry is still permitted on X.

“Turns out this was due to a court judgment in Brazil, which is being appealed, but should not apply outside of Brazil,” the billionaire wrote.

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The rule now stipulates action will only be taken in jurisdictions where local laws explicitly mandate it, effectively narrowing the scope of the policy and leaving most users unprotected.

Belle Torek, senior fellow for tech advocacy and LGBTQ+ inclusion at the Human Rights Campaign, condemned the revision, emphasizing the lack of U.S. laws requiring social media platforms to limit targeted misgendering and deadnaming. “X’s commitment to act only when the law requires that it do so is an insidious sleight of hand,” Torek said. She accused X of “implicitly capitulating to hateful and extremist ideologies,” thus jeopardizing the safety of LGBTQ+ users and empowering those spreading hate and misinformation.

Adding to the criticism, a spokesperson from GLAAD highlighted the broader implications of X’s policy changes for the social media industry. “All social media platforms have hate speech policies for a reason: to protect the experience of all of their users,” the spokesperson stated. They criticized X for “retreating from industry best practices in trust and safety and content moderation,” which has led to a continued exodus of advertisers, brands, news outlets, influencers, public figures, and regular users from the platform.

The GLAAD spokesperson also addressed Musk’s personal engagement in the issue, suggesting that his “personal obsession with bullying and harassing trans people” has influenced the platform’s decision-making, prioritizing “the expression of bigotry above the quality of the user experience.” They warned that such priorities could prove costly for X as regulatory agencies worldwide require compliance with digital safety standards.

GLAAD’s recent report on deadnaming and misgendering in social media platforms demonstrated the prevalence of targeted misgendering and deadnaming by influential anti-LGBTQ accounts as a primary method of bullying, harassment, and hate promotion against transgender and nonbinary people. The report also highlighted recent incidents that have fueled discussions on X, such as a disagreement between Mark Cuban and Jordan Peterson over the intentional misgendering of Dylan Mulvaney and a series of rants from the hate account TheRabbitHole, which speculated on misgendering Caitlyn Jenner in hypothetical scenarios.