Almost a year after calling the word cisgender a “slur,” Elon Musk seems to have taken action against netizens using the word on X.
On May 14, TechCrunch reporter Amanda Silberling noted that when she wrote the word “cisgender” on X, she was met with a full-screen message. The message read, “This post contains language that may be considered a slur by X and could be used in a harmful manner in violation of our rules.”
Is ‘cisgender’ considered a slur on X?
As cited by The Independent on May 15, numerous other X users found that when they wrote “cis” or “cisgender” on X, they got the same error message.
While their posts weren’t removed, their visibility was limited. There was an accompanying message saying, “This post might violate X’s rules against hateful conduct.”
Cisgender is an adjective, and it isn’t necessarily a derogatory term. It refers to someone whose gender identity corresponds with their assigned gender at birth.
Meanwhile, transgender refers to a person whose current gender identity is different from the label they were assigned at birth. Organizations like the American Psychology Association use these terms in its glossary.
The state of X
Last month, X sparked outrage after quietly changing its hateful conduct policy. Since 2018, the policy said that deliberately misgendering or deadnaming transgender people was prohibited. But as of April 8, the policy has removed this stipulation.
Hateful content has also reached an unprecedented high on the platform. So it’s no wonder that, according to GLAAD, X is now “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people.”
“This would appear to be another of Musk’s endless exercises in catering to his new right-wing extremist user base of X,” a GLAAD spokesperson told TechCrunch. “One more coded, but very clear, signal from the company that transgender people are not welcome on the platform. And another strong indicator to advertisers that X is not a safe platform for their brands.”
