Twitter's Latest Move To Clamp Down On Speech
The social media giant is at it again. This time, they are back in the news for recent changes they made to their speech policy which bans users from misgendering or “deadnaming” other persons on their platform. For those who are confused by nonsense talk, let me clarify. If you refer to someone by their biological gender or call them by their previous name, you can face permanent suspension.
Twitter made the change as early as October, but it did not gain attention till November 23rd. The new terms of service offer a rationale for their decision by stating,
“We recognize that if people experience abuse on Twitter, it can jeopardize their ability to express themselves. Research has shown that some groups of people are disproportionately targeted with abuse online. This includes; women, people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual individuals, marginalized and historically underrepresented communities.”
There is no doubt Twitter can do what it wants, as it is a private entity, but for years the social media platform has engaged in ideological discrimination by banning those who do not promote their way of thinking, i.e. Conservatives or those who believe in basic biology. This would not be a problem if the company had not identified itself as a non-partisan platform whose only interest is the free exchange of ideas. Turns out, they are only interested in the exchange of ideas they like.
A prime example of this, as of recent, is the banning of Laura Loomer who criticized newly-elected Rep. Ilan Omar from Minnesota. Loomer accused the Representative of being an anti-Semitic Muslim who supports Sharia law, a system that persecutes gays, lesbians, and transgender people and has no problem with female genital mutilation. For this tweet, a tweet that has validity, Loomer received a permanent suspension. This leaves only one question, what about those on the left who actually engage in hateful rhetoric?
Take, for instance, the openly anti-Semitic leader Louise Farrakhan, who in October referred to the Jewish people as termites. Would Twitter consider this hateful?
Nope.
It’s still up and there looks to be no repercussions.
Twitter’s recent crackdown on speech won't stop here. It’s only a matter of time till the platform goes after Christian or Conservative organizations for tweeting “hate speech” a.k.a Scripture. It would be of little surprise if the social media company sees a continued drop in users within the next year.
Believers in free speech have been looking for reasons to leave the platform. This could be a step in that direction.