Twitter has recently come under fire for allegedly censoring keywords related to the transgender community, the LGBT community, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Independent.co.uk reports that Trans Safety Network, a UK-based research collective, claimed that tweets containing words like "trans," "gay," "lesbian," "queer," and "bisexual" were being deboosted on the platform.
Keywords Appeared Censored: Trans Rights Group
Tweets mentioning the words mentioned above received fewer views, according to Trans Media Watch, a UK-based charity that supports transgender people, because they did not appear in the preview pane in direct messages.
The group said on Twitter that while the word "gay" did not appear in DMs, the homophobic slur "f*****" was allowed to pass through this filter and appear in the preview pane. Meanwhile, "gender identity" was blocked out, but the hotly contested "gender ideology" was allowed.
While these words are not prohibited on the platform, Twitter's approach to selecting which tweets can appear with a preview pane in direct messages may be interpreted as a new content moderation approach.
Some users, however, have accused Twitter of inconsistency and bias, while others argue that the alleged censorship is required to prevent hate speech and harassment.
The group has also noticed that the word "sex" is also banned, as are other words like "homosexual" and "intersex." Interestingly, words like "sextant" and "heterosexual" were not included in the censorship.
Censoring Words to Prevent Hate Speech
The alleged censorship has stirred debate about the platform's content moderation policies, especially since Twitter has been criticized recently for being too heavy-handed in its approach to content moderation. In contrast, others accuse it of failing to do enough to prevent hate speech and harassment.
In December 2022, watchdog groups dedicated to monitoring online hate speech noticed a significant increase in inappropriate content on Twitter, which they attributed to Elon Musk's recent acquisition of the social media platform.
A series of alarming statistics revealed a dramatic increase in tweets containing derogatory language and racist remarks, corroborating this trend. Data suggested that Twitter has been flooded with hate speech and discriminatory language since Elon Musk purchased the platform in late October 2022.
According to CounterHate data, the first whole week of Musk's ownership saw a tripling of the average number of racist tweets and retweets from the previous year, as well as a record number of transphobic comments.
These findings highlight the importance of combating hate speech and ensuring that online platforms remain safe and welcoming to all users.
What Critics Say
Critics of the alleged censorship argue that it makes life more difficult for people on the queer end of the spectrum, and Trans Media Watch discourages the practice of replacing some letters in words with symbols or numbers because it makes the site less accessible to screen reader users and may affect those with dyslexia.
Twitter has not yet responded to the censorship allegations. Still, the situation highlights the social media platforms' difficulty balancing free speech with the need to maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all users.
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