Certain LGBTQ individuals are concerned that the harassment they face on Twitter may become worse if Elon Musk successfully acquires the organization and converts it to a private company.
On Monday, Twitter’s board of directors unanimously agreed to promote the platform to Musk for $44 billion, but the deal is not yet final due to shareholder and regulatory approval.
While some transgender people assert that Twitter has assisted them in connecting with other LGBTQ people and establishing a community, they may be fearful of what would appear to require Musk—a self-described “unrestricted speech absolutist”—to take the company personally, particularly at a time when LGBTQ people and other marginalised groups have faced rampant online harassment.
Earlier this month, Musk discussed additional potential changes to Twitter if his bid is successful. He indicated that he might allow more unmoderated content in the interest of free speech.
Additionally, he has made remarks about transgender people that, when combined with his views on less content moderation, have led some trans customers to believe that hate and harassment on the platform would increase. In a 2020 tweet, he mocked those who display their Twitter bio’s pronouns. Following backlash, he later tweeted, “I am 100% pro-trans, but all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare.”
An expert in science at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic and a transgender rights advocate expressed concern that Musk might change Twitter’s content moderation policy, which prohibits misgendering, or expand debts like Libs of TikTok, which has shared videos of LGBTQ instructors, resulting in a number of them being reprimanded or losing their jobs. This is what people are saying:
“There are numerous ways for him to make life miserable for trans people on sites like this,” she explained. “And there will be no effective means of moderating or reining it in.”
Caraballo stated that if Musk takes the company private, he will no longer be accountable to anyone but himself.
“I am a firm believer in resistance,” Ali said. She said that she plans to stay on the platform.
“Trans people should not be forced to leave,” she stated. We should not be made to feel unwelcome here. I intend to remain and make myself at home there. “
