The latest policy update at Twitter has the usual suspects in the trans-advocacy community up in arms. On Monday, the Twitter Support team removed a number of restrictions on so-called “hate speech” that would have previously resulted in the suspension of the user’s account. Those tweets will now have a “low visibility” tag attached to them and not be as prominently promoted on the platform. One of those categories is the practice of what trans activists refer to as “deadnaming.” That is when someone refers to a transgender person by their original name rather than the new name they “identify” with after “transitioning.” The Associated Press describes the change as a sign that Twitter is becoming “less safe for marginalized groups” under Musk’s leadership.

Twitter has quietly removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” raising concerns that the Elon Musk-owned platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups.

Twitter enacted the policy against deadnaming, or using a transgender person’s name before they transitioned, as well as purposefully using the wrong gender for someone as a form of harassment, in 2018.

On Monday, Twitter also said it will only put warning labels on some tweets that are “potentially” in violation of its rules against hateful conduct. Previously, the tweets were removed.

Here’s the tweet from the Twitter Safety account that explains what’s actually happening.

We’re adding more transparency to the enforcement actions we take on Tweets. As a first step, soon you’ll start to see labels on some Tweets identified as potentially violating our rules around Hateful Conduct letting you know that we’ve limited their visibility. 🧵…

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) April 17, 2023

It’s never really been explained how seeing words in a tweet makes anyone “less safe,” but that’s the new language of the left for you. I see things I disagree with on Twitter all the time, but it’s never struck me as being even vaguely similar to somebody showing up at my door with a knife. (Side note: Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. It generally won’t end well for you.)

As far as the deadnaming goes, I’ve never really had a problem with calling people whatever they decide to call themselves, regardless of their “gender status.” People change their names all the time for any number of reasons. I’ve been called a number of things I didn’t care for on social media, but it’s never done me any “harm.”

After wrestling with the issue for a while, I even started using incorrect pronouns for some transgender individuals. That came about back when Bradley Manning was becoming Chelsea Manning. Any adult who goes to the extreme measure of having their genitals surgically destroyed is so committed to the prospect that I figured there was no harm in it. So after the surgery, I started referring to Chelsea Manning as “she” even though that process doesn’t make her an actual woman.

At the same time, I’m not here to tell anyone else how they should speak and that’s the whole point of the Freedom of Speech angle that Elon Musk is pushing at Twitter. I know there are people out there who still refer to Lia Thomas as William Thomas. I don’t do it myself, but I’m not the word police. The problem is that we have far too many people out there today who think that they definitely are entitled to be the word police. It’s a very Marxist practice where someone seeks to control the debate by controlling the language others are allowed to use. And we really shouldn’t stand for it.