Elon Musk rejected the use of terms like “cisgender” on Twitter because they’re “slurs.”
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Elon Musk said terms like “cisgender” and “cis” are now considered “slurs” on Twitter.
The billionaire has a history of sharing anti-transgender content on the platform.
It isn’t clear if Musk’s statement represents an official Twitter policy.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, has amped up his anti-transgender campaign and has rejected the use of specific terms on the platform that are important to transgender people.
One Twitter user posted about receiving messages from “trans activists,” saying: “Yesterday, after posting a Tweet saying that I reject the word ‘cis’ and don’t wish to be called it, I receive a slew of messages from trans activists calling me ‘cissy’ and telling me that I am ‘cis’ ‘whether or not I like it.’ Just imagine if the roles were reversed.”
In response, Musk tweeted: “Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions. The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs on this platform.”
In another tweet, he added: “The contemptible creep that manufactured the term ‘cis’ has serious problems. Ignore him.”
Musk has a tendency to make announcements about Twitter’s policies based on personal whims, but it’s unclear whether this is an official policy that will be upheld.
“Cisgender” as a term is an important part of many transgender peoples’ vocabulary because it refers to people who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Although Twitter’s hateful conduct policy does not make mention of the specific term, it does state: “We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category.”
Musk has a history of publicly attacking transgender people and even tweeted earlier this month that he will actively start “lobbying to criminalize,” healthcare options for transgender children which he believes can cause “severe irreparable changes.”
In April, Insider conducted a test that found Twitter was limiting the visibility of some tweets sent via direct messages when words like “trans,” “transgender,” or “intersex” were used.
Musk has a transgender daughter who legally filed to change her name in 2022 because of her “gender identity” and “the fact that I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape, or form.”
Twitter responded to Insider’s request for comment with an automated message that did not provide any context about Musk’s claim.