Twitter censors LGBTQI+ terms

In a concerning development for Twitter users and LGBTQI+ activists, it appears that certain terms associated with the community are being censored on the social media platform.

On Saturday, 1 April, many users noticed that tweet previews in direct messages (DMs) were no longer showing up for tweets containing the words “trans”, “LGBT”, “LGBT+”, and “BLM” (Black Lives Matter). Instead, users were seeing just a plain link.

The situation is made more alarming by the fact that tweets containing slurs that are widely regarded as derogatory by the LGBTQI+ community, such as “trans-identified” and “t***n”, are still previewing as normal. Tweets mentioning the trans-exclusionary term “LGB” also seem to be unaffected.

The UK-based Trans Safety Network has also reported that early testing indicates that tweets containing certain words are being “deboosted” by the platform. These words include “trans”, “gay”, “lesbian”, “queer”, and “bisexual”.

This apparent censorship has sparked concerns among Twitter users and LGBTQI+ activists, who fear that it could lead to the silencing of important conversations and the marginalisation of already vulnerable communities.

It’s worth noting that Twitter has previously been criticised for its handling of LGBTQI+ issues, with some users reporting instances of hate speech and harassment on the platform.