Twitter quietly updates Hateful Conduct policy to remove protections for transgender users

Twitter has undergone some huge changes since Elon Musk took over at the social media platform, many of which have been very public. But others, like a recent update to its Hateful Content policy, have been quietly slipped out without announcement.

The policy change sees Twitter removing sections that specifically protected transgender users. This means that a long-standing ban on the purposeful deadnaming or misgendering of trans users has been lifted, leading to condemnation from LGBTQIA+ groups and angering the trans community.

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Intentional misgendering of trans users, as well as deadnaming (referring to a transgender person by their former name) are both tactics used in transphobic attacks. The updated policy removes specific protections for a group which is already subject to a great deal of online, and real-world, abuse.

As a transgender woman, and having been subjected to various forms of online attack and harassment, it is hard for me not to see this policy change as a step backwards and yet another indication that Twitter is a less safe platform for queer users than, say, Mastodon.

The alteration was made in early April, and while Twitter has a tendency to draw attention to policy updates, this particular tweak was done so with no such notice. As can be seen in an archived copy of the page courtesy of the Wayback Machine, the Slurs and Tropes section of the Hateful Conduct policy used to read:

We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals. In some cases, such as (but not limited to) severe, repetitive usage of slurs, or racist/sexist tropes where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may require Tweet removal.

In the current, updated version of the policy, the sentence that reads "this includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals" has been removed.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the advocacy group GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) told ABC News:

Twitter's decision to covertly roll back its longtime policy is the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike. This decision to roll back LGBTQ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterest, and Meta, which all maintain similar policies to protect their transgender users at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real world discrimination and violence.

While it would fair to say that the remaining policies do still promise some protection against hate speech and harassment, the decision to remove a section about a particular group is a strange one -- particularly given the rise in persecution of LGBTQIA+ users on Twitter in the Musk era, and the increasing volume of anti-trans rhetoric in general.

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