Elon Musk attends Viva Technology, a conference on startups and innovation. … [+]
According to a tweet the billionaire sent out early Wednesday, Elon Musk has stated that the words “cis” and “cisgender” are now considered offensive words on Twitter. The words don’t officially appear on any Twitter published guidelinesThe move is unique to social media platforms like Facebook. Big platforms don’t see cisgender as a derogatory term.
“The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered offensive words on this platform,” Musk said tweetedAfter midnight ET, a trans activist claimed to have harassed a user.
Transgender is the opposite of cisgender. This means a person whose gender identity does not match the gender identity registered at birth. The word transgender refers to the opposite – someone whose gender identity differs from the one assigned at birth.
It’s not immediately clear what kind of punishment Twitter users who use cisgender face, though Musk has been known to announce new policies or programs at the social media company that are never really formalized or otherwise take months to do they are turned into reality. Musk said in February that Twitter would start sharing ad revenue. It is difficult to say whether this program actually started.
This new policy, which decries cisgender as an insult, appears to be in line with anti-trans activists’ goal to make the word toxic. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the term cisgender first became popular to talk about gender expression in the late 1990s, and most people don’t seem to take it as an insult.
A few weeks ago, Musk helped promote a 2022 film called “What Is a Woman?” by anti-trans activist Matt Walsh. The film had been restricted due to Twitter’s hate speech policy when Musk visited China. Walsh publicly complained about these restrictions. After Musk left China, the film was freely shared on Twitter. Musk pinned it to his profile on Twitter for users to see first when they visit.
Musk had also lifted protections requested by GLAAD, an LGBT advocacy group, in April. Like other platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, Twitter had previously banned “purposeful misnomers or mis-naming of transgender people.” Musk has lifted the deadnaming ban.
Many people speculated at the time that Musk’s decision to remove some protections for trans Twitter users had something to do with the billionaire’s estrangement from his daughter, who is transgender. Musk is now speaking out and seems to blame the college.
“Musk has a dystopian view of the influence of the left in America, which explains his rampant quest for Twitter to liberate free speech. He blames the alleged neo-Marxist takeover of elite schools and universities on the fact that his teenage daughter no longer wants to be associated with him Financial TimesMusk’s profile was written on October 7, 2022.
Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and immediately made several changes that scared advertisers. Musk passed the CEO title to advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino. She will help Twitter win back advertisers who may have worried about brand safety since Musk became its leader.
Twitter responded to a question about the new policy with a poop emoji, an automated response Musk set up to send to all reporters. I’ll update this article if I hear anything substantial.
