Posted on 06/01/2023 8:00:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
On Thursday morning, The Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing dropped a bombshell claim about how Twitter is currently doing business. In a series of tweets on the social media site, Boering laid out how a deal to screen Matt Walsh’s What Is a Woman documentary was canceled due to alleged instances of “misgendering” that occur in the film.
As RedState reported, What Is a Woman chronicled the nonsensical and militarist approach being taken by the transgender movement and its targeting of children. It has become one of The Daily Wire’s most successful projects, and the plan was to promote and screen it for free on Twitter. But according to Boreing, after initially signing a deal to do just that, Twitter executives backed out, claiming that they found two instances of “misgendering” while watching a screener of the movie.
The Twitter thread is long, so I’m going to transcribe the rest of what Boreing had to say instead of embedding every tweet (I don’t want your browser to explode).
2/16 One year ago today, we released What is a Woman?. To celebrate the occasion and expand the movie’s already enormous impact, we decided to give it away for free for 24 hours on Twitter.
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 1, 2023
3/16 With Twitter’s recent commitments to free speech, we thought it would be the perfect place to distribute the film and drive the conversation forward on one of the most important topics of our day.
4/16 Twitter responded with enthusiasm and offered us the opportunity to buy a package to host the movie on a dedicated event page and to promote the event to every Twitter user over the first 10 hours.
5/16 We accepted and signed an agreement. After we signed, Twitter asked to see the film to better understand what parts may “trigger” users, so they could better prepare their response. They said they were still all hands on deck for launch, so we sent them a screener.
6/16 After reviewing the film, though, Twitter let us know that not only could we no longer purchase the package they offered, they would no longer provide us any support and would actually limit the reach of the film and label it as “hateful conduct” because of “misgendering.”
7/16 Specifically: In the film, a father refers to his 14-year-old daughter as “her,” and a store owner uses the “wrong” pronoun in a confrontation with a trans person.
8/16 We reminded Twitter they removed “misgendering” from their policy, that the term “misgendering” itself is misleading, and that enforcing such a policy places them on the side of the most radical elements in society – the side most opposed to their commitment to free speech.
9/16 Twitter clarified they only removed “misgendering” from their policy because they didn’t need to be that specific, but that they still consider “misgendering” abuse and harassment. They gave us the opportunity to edit the film to comply. We declined.
10/16 When we asked how much they would limit the visibility if we posted the film anyway, Twitter replied that our own followers would not be able to see it in their feeds. This, they said, is part of their “speech not reach” policy.
11/16 Of course, saying “you have the right to speak, but we’ll make sure no one hears you” is a bit like saying “you have the right to cast a vote, but we’ll make sure it isn’t counted.” That’s not a right at all!
12/16 We brought all our shows to Twitter Tuesday because we believed Twitter was committed to free speech, especially on this issue.
After all, the @TheBabylonBee was silenced on Twitter over this very issue, and that in part prompted
@elonmusk to purchase the platform.13/16 The other tech platforms have already decided where they stand in the trans debate and demonetize and deprioritize all those who disagree.
Now, Twitter has joined the ranks of the other tech superpowers in ensuring one side of the debate is suppressed.
14/16 @elonmusk is not beholden to conservatives. He has the right to run his business as he sees fit. But if Twitter is going to throttle one side of one of the most important debates facing society, it cannot claim to champion free speech.
15/16 I hope @elonmusk will reconsider this awful policy. If we can’t debate these issues on Twitter, where can we debate them?
If conservatives aren’t welcome on Twitter, where are they welcome?
It’s unlikely another centibillionaire will come along to offer an alternative.
16/16 We plan to post the movie anyway tonight at 8:00 pm eastern. Will Twitter make good on their threat to throttle it and label it “hateful conduct,” or will Twitter live up to its great promise? We’ll all find out together.
This doesn’t surprise me given that Twitter’s CEO is now Linda Yaccarino. Her hiring was controversial because of her history at NBC Universal, a far-left-wing media corporation. She also has ties to the World Economic Forum, which has long pushed the idea that censorship of “disinformation” is a good thing. Is Yaccarino behind this apparent decision to bring back the misgendering policies that made Twitter such a paradise for far-left censors prior to Musk’s acquisition?
Remember, that policy was removed from the actual TOS and hasn’t been enforced (as far as I can tell) against individual users since shortly after Musk took over. Yet, according to Boreing, The Daily Wire was told the policy is still in place and is part of the general abuse and harassment clause now. That’s a huge revelation because such a policy would have far-reaching implications, affecting many more people and outlets than just The Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire will still show What Is a Woman on Thursday evening, and that will offer a test on whether Twitter follows through in throttling the content. If they do, Musk is going to face a tidal wave of backlash from the very people who he has promised to not betray. When Yaccarino was initially hired, many questioned her ability to remain unbiased and promote free speech. Musk assured everyone that it wouldn’t be a problem. Well, it appears to be a problem.
That leaves the final question. What is Musk going to do about it? At this point, given the reach of The Daily Wire (and both Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro have reached out already), the Twitter owner has to have seen what’s going on. Will he take action? Or will he allow his platform to sink away as yet another bastion of censorship, even if at a lower intensity than other sites? This is a defining moment for Twitter, and I hope Musk does the right thing. The trust he built with those who have gone to bat for him the past year is real, and it would be tragic to see it dashed on the rocks at this point.
Worth the two minutes for a Thursday morning laugh.
Meet the new boss.
Same as the old boss............................
I have been saying all along that Elon Musk is not a person to celebrate at all. His free speech proclamations are as hollow as he is. I sometimes think he is a transhuman already.
I always assumed that it came from personal experience with a transgender family member, but in any case Musk has gone out of his way to criticize misgendering censorship in the past so this would surprise me a bit.
Elon gives scraps to keep people hopeful in his platform. If he truly believes in free speech, he would have never hired Linda.
As long as the check clears, Ron doesn’t care.
Musk 60mins ago-
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
This was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed.
Whether or not you agree with using someone’s preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws.
I should note that I do personally use someone’s preferred pronouns, just as I use someone’s preferred name, simply from the standpoint of good manners.
However, for the same reason, I object to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used.
Thanks for the update. Although just for the record I think it is well known he has protested coercion over preferred pronouns in the past.
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