Elon Musk has slowly reversed the censorship priorities of Twitter’s platform away from those on the Left but adopted inconsistent and unpredictable positions.
Earlier this week, Musk declared the term “cisgender,” a term used to describe those who do not identify as transgender, a slur on Twitter. While it remains unclear if Twitter will actively penalize users for using the term, the update to Twitter’s content moderation policy is the latest effort by Musk to shift the platform’s content moderation policy away from its typical history of left-leaning content moderation. It is also the newest action by Musk to attempt to moderate content on Twitter despite his earlier commitments to allowing free speech on Twitter.
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“Musk promised to usher in an area of expressive freedom on Twitter, but we’re all still waiting for that to happen,” Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told the Washington Examiner. Terr said Musk has failed to moderate content “consistently, transparently, and in line with its purported commitment to free speech.”
Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions.
The words “cis” or “cisgender” are considered slurs on this platform.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023
Musk’s statement on the term “transgender” led to backlash from transgender users. “The free speech absolutist is at it again,” tweeted Natalie Wynn, a transgender woman and YouTuber.
It also led to criticism from the Right on the grounds that it is an undue restriction on speech. “Elon’s restriction of the word ‘cisgender’ is ridiculous,” tweeted conservative activist Christopher Rufo. “The rules should be tailored to the extreme cases (death threats, doxing, etc.) and enforced in an equal, transparent manner. Restricting ‘slurs’—and even fake words like ‘cis’—is arbitrary and counter-productive.”
Elon’s restriction of the word “cisgender” is ridiculous. The rules should be tailored to the extreme cases (death threats, doxxing, etc.) and enforced in an equal, transparent manner. Restricting “slurs”—and even fake words like “cis”—is arbitrary and counter-productive.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 21, 2023
Musk previously reversed Twitter’s ban on “deadnaming,” or using the original name of birth of a transgender person. The policy had gotten several conservative accounts banned from the platform, including those of the conservative satirical website the Babylon Bee and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
Musk also sided with conservatives when Twitter removed thousands of tweets referencing the “Trans Day of Vengeance,” a transgender rights protest.
He also personally hosted a glitch-plagued Twitter Spaces interview with Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and another with anti-vaccine advocate and Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
When Twitter limited the posting of the Daily Wire’s gender ideology-critical documentary What is a Woman? in May, Musk said it was a mistake and allowed the documentary on the platform, albeit without ad support. Two Twitter safety executives left the company afterward.
In December, Musk also lifted bans for thousands of accounts that promoted COVID-19 skepticism, QAnon conspiracy theories, and other controversial views. He also reinstated Donald Trump to Twitter, although the former president has not tweeted since.
The platform banned law professor Andy Grewal in April for satirically tweeting that Justice Clarence Thomas be guillotined.
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said Musk’s actions on Twitter have led to an increase in anti-gay rhetoric on the platform. She called the platform “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people.”
While Musk has presented himself as allowing all speech, there is some speech he has explicitly rejected for what appeared to be nonpolitical reasons.
He banned @elonjet, a Twitter account used to track his airplane, after alleging that the account had empowered a stalker to track him and his daughter. He temporarily suspended several journalists for posting links to @elonjet on other platforms, but reinstated them weeks later.
Musk also banned a WIRED journalist in April for writing a story about the hacker who broke into conservative commentator Matt Walsh’s phone. The hacker posted several tweets to Walsh’s 1.7 million followers, including a link to a song about gay sex.
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He later restricted tweets linking to Substack blogs, claiming it was due to competition.
The billionaire has also had to abide by moderation requests from more authoritarian governments like India, which demanded that activists’ posts be taken down.
