X reversed its policy on allowing users to “misgender” people, a policy apparently at odds with owner Elon Musk’s stated goal of prioritizing free speech on the platform.
X added a section titled “Use of Prior Names and Pronouns” to its policies on abusive behavior sometime in late January, according to the Wayback Machine. The change, reported by Ars Technica, states that X will “reduce the visibility of posts that purposefully use different pronouns to address someone other than what that person uses for themselves, or that use a previous name that someone no longer goes by as part of their transition.”
The policy is a partial reversal of Musk’s initial removal of the policy in April 2023. It’s unclear why X backtracked on the change. X did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Musk has been critical of those promoting gender ideology in recent years. He promoted What is a Woman, a documentary by the Daily Wire in which talk show host Matt Walsh spoke to several experts about what makes somebody a woman, including advocates of gender transitions and “detransitioners,” people who underwent gender transitions but then reverted to identifying with their biological sex. Musk also declared in June that “cis” and “cisgender,” terms used to identify people who identify with their gender from birth, will be considered slurs. Finally, he called for the police to imprison therapists who help children transition their gender.
Musk became “anti-woke” after his child identified as transgender and cut off communication, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk.
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Musk’s purchase of the social media platform reportedly was motivated in part by the suspension of the satire publication the Babylon Bee for posting a tweet referring to Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine, a biological man who identifies as a woman, as a man.
X is following behind several popular social media platforms in adopting a policy against misgendering. Discord announced in December that users could not repeatedly use slurs to “berate and demean individuals or groups. This includes deadnaming or misgendering a transgender person.”
