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.
Oversight Board recommends Meta change its policies to respect transgender and non-binary people
It is quite some time since Facebook was hit with the "free the nipple" campaign that demanded the company stop censoring or removing images of breastfeeding women. But now Meta is facing new recommendations from its independent Oversight Board to update the Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity Community Standard that it applies to Facebook and Instagram content to ensure it is "governed by clear criteria that respect international human rights standards".
The recommendation comes as the Oversight Board overturned Meta's decisions in 2021 and 2022 to remove content posted by a couple -- one of whom is transgender, the other non-binary -- for violating Sexual Solicitation Community Standards. Meta is criticized for taking a simplistic view of gender, with the Board saying that it is "unclear how the rules apply to intersex, non-binary and transgender people, and requires reviewers to make rapid and subjective assessments of sex and gender, which is not practical when moderating content at scale".
Valve bans developer from Steam for using game update notes to share transphobic rant
The developer of the game Domina, Nicholas Gorissen, has received a permanent ban from Valve's Steam platform after publishing an anti trans diatribe in the notes accompanying a game update.
Gorissen, also known as Bignic, used the release notes for an update to his Roman gladiator sim Domina to attack the transgender community. In addition to a general anti-trans rant, he also personally attacked a prominent transgender game streamer. In response, Valve has removed all titles published by his company, Dolphin Barn Incorporated.