X Restricts Reporting of Anti-Transgender Harassment
Online observers note that the options available to users seeking to report anti-transgender posts on X have been changed.
X, formerly known as Twitter, has quietly removed the ability of users to report harassment due to one’s gender identity to the site’s moderators.
Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney, noted the change in a post with screenshots of the platform’s new hate speech reporting system.
As reported by LGBTQ Nation, as recently as last year, Twitter users were able to report the “misgendering or deadnaming” of transgender people as a specific complaint, along with “using slurs or harmful tropes” or “spreading fear about me because of my identity.”
Those more specific options have been replaced by overwhelmingly vague or generic categories, such as “dehumanization,” “violent speech,” and “abuse and harassment.”
For those being targeted due to their gender identity, “dehumanization” mentions gender identity as an example of something that could be used to dehumanize another person — meaning it’s probably the closest option for someone who is being badmouthed, deadnamed, or doxxed by malicious users.
There is also an option, in extreme cases, of incitement, defined by X as “spreading fear against me or a group of people, because of their identity.” However, in the reporting system, such actions are equated to “encouraging others to deny support to a business or service.”
Caraballo also noted in her post that the platform has removed the ability to add context to a report.
This poses a risk that, without context or a specific example of the offending behavior, moderators will let slide some of the objectionable content under the guise of protecting “free speech.”
That, in turn, could allow some abusive behavior towards transgender individuals continue.
Twitter has overhauled its reporting system. It has removed the ability to report targeted misgendering and transphobic harassment. It has also removed the ability to add context to the report. pic.twitter.com/N7VQ8foJsH
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) October 3, 2023
Several users replying to Caraballo’s post expressed frustration or disgust at the platform’s reactions to reports of online harassment.
“Yknow what happens every time i reported people for slurs, posting hateful imagery, and threatening people?” wrote one user, including a screenshot of a response they received from X that read, “After reviewing the available information, we want to let you know that [user name redacted] hasn’t broken our safety policies. We know this isn’t the answer you’re looking for. If this account breaks our policies in the future, we’ll notify you.”
Yknow what happens every time i reported people for slurs, posting hateful imagery, and threatening people? pic.twitter.com/OLhht5mojT
— Keigo ΔΘ (@RedWingsPheonix) October 3, 2023
“You can harass trans people, but don’t dare suggest boycotting a business! Also I suspect the ‘me’ here is from an early draft?” wrote another user.
“I was put in twitter jail for making a joke about 2 hypothetical gods duking it out but legit hate speech is A OK according to elon musk,” complained a third user,” referring to X’s owner and former CEO.
“Soon they’ll just get rid of reporting and replace it with this,” wrote a fourth user, adding a GIF of Sesame Street character Elmo shrugging.
Soon they’ll just get rid of reporting and replace it with this: pic.twitter.com/aOPWU5Y5yB
— Mike Lunsted (@mlunsted) October 3, 2023
In April, X quietly removed a line in its “hateful conduct” policy protecting transgender people from online abuse, including deliberate misgendering.
In June, the site’s owner Elon Musk declared that the word “cis,” a shortened form of “cisgender” — referring to those whose gender identity matches their assigned sex at birth — was a slur and that using the term would be enough to get one suspended from the platform.
According to a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, posts linking LGBTQ people to “grooming” and pedophilia have increased by 119% since Musk took over Twitter last year.
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