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Twitter "What Is A Woman" Censorship Controversy

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Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog. 1h It's been a wild 24 hours. It began with Twitter labeling our film hate speech and completely suppressing it, and ends with all suppression lifted and Elon Musk himself tweeting out the film and urging people to watch it. A huge win. 1,315 24 Elon Musk @elonmusk FilmLadd @FilmLadd 1h Two people left twitter's trust and safety team in the past twelve hours. I'd like to know if that's related because that would be hilarious. 153 ₁45.4K Director related 4,389 Y 31.3K 8:57 AM . Jun 2, 2023 · 77K Views ₁805.5K 815 136 Retweets 18 Quotes 2,282 Likes 17 Bookmarks Subscribe
Ben Shapiro @benshapiro Thanks, @elonmusk! Overnight, visibility limits on the movie have been removed. Elon continues to work to make good on his pledge to keep Twitter an open platform! Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog. 1h Wow. Thank you, Elon. We really appreciate it. twitter.com/elonmusk/statu... 8:43 AM Jun 2, 2023 558.2K Views 1,061 Retweets 21 Quotes 10.8K Likes 30 Bookmarks
derek guy @dieworkwear Matt Walsh: Welcome to our film screening for What Is A Wo- Me, from the back row: HISTORICALLY MEN'S COATS BISECTED THEM HALFWAY FROM THEIR COLLAR TO THE FLOOR WHEN THEY WORE HEELED SHOES. YOUR COAT HITS AROUND YOUR BELTLINE, WHICH TECHNICALLY PUTS IT MUCH CLOSER TO WOMENSWEA- DW D n • 1 4:46 AM Jun 2, 2023 534K Views 1,023 Retweets 74 Quotes 13.2K Likes 256 Bookmarks :
Elon Musk @elonmusk Every parent should watch this DW Daily Wire @realDailyWire . 13h It's the movie they really don't want you to see: #WhatIsAWoman? Watch the explosive documentary starring @MattWalshBlog FREE on Twitter for 24 hrs. WARNING This program contains discussions of Transgenderism, Gender Dysphoria, and Gender Reassignment Surgery. 33.3K Retweets Some viewers may find the content and imagery disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. 8:25 AM. Jun 2, 2023 · 11.5M Views Subscribe 1,960 Quotes 112.4K Likes 11.3K Bookmarks
Robby Starbuck @robbystarbuck Head of Trust and Safety Ella G. Irwin has now resigned presumably over this film and @elonmusk's directive to allow it on Twitter. Anyone who helped carry out this act of defiance against Elon to censor What Is A Woman by @MattWalshBlog should be fired ASAP! @realDailyWire 8:49 PM Jun 1, 2023 · 64K Views ... 253 Retweets 14 Quotes 1,607 Likes 7 Bookmarks
Elon Musk @elonmusk Subscribe We're updating the system tomorrow so that those who follow @realDailyWire will see this in their feed, but it won't be recommended to non- followers (nor will any advertising be associated with it) 8:47 PM Jun 1, 2023 7M Views 1,278 Retweets 1,238 Quotes 11.2K Likes 310 Bookmarks
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Overview

Twitter "What Is A Woman" Censorship Controversy refers to Twitter's decision to temporarily restrict access to Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire's controversial documentary What Is A Woman. Jeremy Boering, the co-founder and co-CEO of The Daily Wire, shared news about Elon Musk's Twitter canceling a deal to premier the film on the platform in early June. Additionally, Twitter also began to censor the documentary from the platform on account of the film violating Twitter's rules against hateful conduct. Following the fallout from the initial events, Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety Ella G. Irwin resigned from her position, and the film was shared by Musk with no content warnings or censorship flags on June 2nd, 2023.

Background

On March 24th, 2022, Matt Walsh's YouTube[1] account posted a trailer for the documentary film What Is A Woman. The video gathered over 1.8 million views in a year (seen below).

On June 1st, 2023, The Daily Wire co-founder @JeremyDBoreing posted a thread of tweets[2] detailing a series of events in which Twitter purportedly agreed to distribute the film What Is A Woman, before deciding not to go forward with the deal. Twitter also relayed to Boreing that the documentary would be censored if shared on the platform and unable to be shown to both followers and non-followers (seen below). The initial tweet gathered over 35,000 likes in a day.

Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of "misgendering." I'm not kidding. Here's what happened: 1/16 8:59 AM Jun 1, 2023 · 18.5M Views 8,842 Retweets 2,013 Quotes 35.2K Likes 1,591 Bookmarks
Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 6/16 After reviewing the film, though, Twitter let us know that not only could we no longer purchase the package they offered, they would no longer provide us any support and would actually limit the reach of the film and label it as "hateful conduct" because of "misgendering." 59 6,293 il₁404.6K Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 7/16 Specifically: In the film, a father refers to his 14-year-old daughter as "her," and a store owner uses the "wrong" pronoun in a confrontation with a trans person. 44 643 We declined. 120 484 Jeremy Boreing ✔ @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 8/16 We reminded Twitter they removed "misgendering" from their policy, that the term "misgendering” itself is misleading, and that enforcing such a policy places them on the side of the most radical elements in society - the side most opposed to their commitment to free speech. 29 1 590 ₁369.7K 66 Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 9/16 Twitter clarified they only removed "misgendering" from their policy because they didn't need to be that specific, but that they still consider "misgendering" abuse and harassment. They gave us the opportunity to edit the film to comply. 6,192 1726 7,676 1 730 ₁365.9K 7,527 Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 10/16 When we asked how much they would lin the visibility if we posted the film anyway, Twitter replied that our own followers would not be able to see it in their feeds. This, they said, is part of their "speech not reach" policy. 6,450 ₁588.7K il₁402.5K

On June 1st, 2023, Matt Walsh tweeted[3] "one of the scenes" from What Is A Woman that Twitter qualified as hate speech and received a "sensitive content" banner on this tweet. The tweet gathered over 23,000 likes in a day (seen below).

Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog Visibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter's rules against Hateful Conduct. Learn more This is one of the scenes from What Is A Woman that Twitter now says is hate speech. We will still stream the movie here tonight in its entirety at 8 ET. Twitter has the next 12 hours to decide whether they want to be a true free speech platform or not. 0:00 9:32 AM Jun 1, 2023 · 1.4M Views 4,944 Retweets 485 Quotes 23.2K Likes 852 Bookmarks STAR WADE WARE : NA
Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog Visibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter's rules against Hateful Conduct. Learn more This is one of the scenes from What Is A Woman that Twitter now says is hate speech. We will still stream the movie here tonight in its entirety at 8 ET. Twitter has the next 12 hours to decide whether they want to be a true free speech platform or not. 0:06 9:32 AM Jun 1, 2023 · 1.4M Views : 4,944 Retweets 485 Quotes 23.2K Likes 852 Bookmarks

The content warning banner was then subsequently removed shortly after (seen below).

Developments

On June 1st, 2023, Elon Musk's official Twitter[4] account responded to @JeremyDBoreing's tweets by saying that "this was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed." Musk went on to add that he personally uses people's correct pronouns as a matter of having "good manners." The post gathered over 89,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Shortly after, @JeremyDBoreing responded[5] to Musk in a tweet that gathered over 16,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. Jun 1 Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of "misgendering." I'm not kidding. Here's what happened: 1/16 3,427 Elon Musk @elonmusk 11.4K 38.8K ₁22.2M Subscribe This was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed. Whether or not you agree with using someone's preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws. : I should note that I do personally use someone's preferred pronouns, just as I use someone's preferred name, simply from the standpoint of good manners. However, for the same reason, I object to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used. 1:33 PM. Jun 1, 2023 · 14.5M Views 8,262 Retweets 1,675 Quotes 89.6K Likes 1,400 Bookmarks
Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing I appreciate the reply. We posted the two clips flagged by Twitter and they were indeed labeled "hateful conduct" and the share functions were disabled on the posts. We are trying to reach your team to determine what this means for those posts, whether or not our event tonight will be allowed to proceed unencumbered, and whether or not we will be allowed to purchase the live event page and reach block as originally agreed. : I appreciate your view of polite behavior, but our business is to debate public policy and philosophy. As such, we have an obligation to speak in ways consistent with our position. Our hope is that Twitter remains a place where we are free to do so. 2:07 PM Jun 1, 2023 1.6M Views 1,444 Retweets 80 Quotes 16K Likes 122 Bookmarks

On June 1st, The Daily Wire's Twitter account then uploaded What Is A Woman in its entirety (seen below).[6]

Also on June 1st, 2023, Twitter[7] user @robbystarbuck posted a series of tweets detailing the censorship blocks placed on Matt Walsh's clips from the film and The Daily Wire upload of the entire movie (seen below, left). Roughly 10 minutes later, Musk then responded to @robbystarbuck saying that the film will only be allowed to be shown to followers of The Daily Wire's account (seen below, right).[8]

Robby Starbuck @robbystarbuck Despite @elonmusk promising that the @realDailyWire film "What Is A Woman" by @MattWalshBlog wouldn't be censored, it seems someone @Twitter staff chose to censor it anyways less than 20 minutes after it was posted. You can't even comment. Whoever did this should be fired. Daily Wire @realDailyWire 18m Visibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter's rules against Hateful Conduct. Learn more Help rate notes submitted by Community Notes contributors Only visible to Community Notes contribu 4,901 7,169 1 218 622 Jeremy Boreing 8:35 PM. Jun 1, 2023 · 4.1M Views It's the movie they really don't want you to see: #WhatsAWoman? Watch the explosive documentary starring @MattWalshBlog FREE on Twitter for 24 hrs. 39:01 5,125 Retweets 242 Quotes 23.4K Likes 305 Bookmarks : cc
Elon Musk @elonmusk Subscribe We're updating the system tomorrow so that those who follow @realDailyWire will see this in their feed, but it won't be recommended to non- followers (nor will any advertising be associated with it) 8:47 PM Jun 1, 2023 7M Views 1,278 Retweets 1,238 Quotes 11.2K Likes 310 Bookmarks

News about Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety Ella G. Irwin's resignation began to spread soon after the aforementioned events took place.[9]

On June 2nd, 2023, all censorship blocks on the video were lifted, with Elon Musk also notably retweeting the film himself. Musk's retweet[10] gathered over 100,000 likes in a day, eventually bringing the video's total viewership to over 11 million in a day (seen below).

Elon Musk @elonmusk Every parent should watch this DW Daily Wire @realDailyWire . 13h It's the movie they really don't want you to see: #WhatIsAWoman? Watch the explosive documentary starring @MattWalshBlog FREE on Twitter for 24 hrs. WARNING This program contains discussions of Transgenderism, Gender Dysphoria, and Gender Reassignment Surgery. 33.3K Retweets Some viewers may find the content and imagery disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. 8:25 AM. Jun 2, 2023 · 11.5M Views Subscribe 1,960 Quotes 112.4K Likes 11.3K Bookmarks

Online Reactions

Due to the controversial nature of What Is A Woman, the documentary's appearance on Twitter and the viral debate surrounding its censorship resulted in numerous reactions from Twitter users in early June 2023. For example, on June 1st, 2023, Twitter user @halomancer1 posted several tweets from both Matt Walsh and Elon Musk regarding the film being censored and uploaded to the platform, ultimately mocking Walsh's "big plan" tweet and receiving nearly 28,000 likes and 1,300 retweets in 15 hours (seen below).

Also on June 1st, Twitter user @JUNlPER posted a series of notable conservatives reacting to the censorship controversy on the site, poking fun at them and accumulating over 32,600 likes and 1,100 retweets in roughly 24 hours (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

[1] YouTube – Matt Walsh

[2] Twitter – JeremyDBoreing

[3] Twitter – MattWalshBlog

[4]  Twitter – elonmusk

[5] Twitter – JeremyDBoreing

[6] Twitter – realDailyWire

[7] Twitter – robbystarbuck

[8] Twitter – elonmusk

[9] Twitter – Reuters

[10] Twitter – elonmusk

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Twitter What Is A Woman Censorship Controversy depicting a phone with the app and a cover for the film.

Twitter "What Is A Woman" Censorship Controversy

Part of a series on What Is A Woman?. [View Related Entries]

Updated Jun 02, 2023 at 12:43PM EDT by sakshi.

Added Jun 01, 2023 at 10:10PM EDT by sakshi.

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Overview

Twitter "What Is A Woman" Censorship Controversy refers to Twitter's decision to temporarily restrict access to Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire's controversial documentary What Is A Woman. Jeremy Boering, the co-founder and co-CEO of The Daily Wire, shared news about Elon Musk's Twitter canceling a deal to premier the film on the platform in early June. Additionally, Twitter also began to censor the documentary from the platform on account of the film violating Twitter's rules against hateful conduct. Following the fallout from the initial events, Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety Ella G. Irwin resigned from her position, and the film was shared by Musk with no content warnings or censorship flags on June 2nd, 2023.

Background

On March 24th, 2022, Matt Walsh's YouTube[1] account posted a trailer for the documentary film What Is A Woman. The video gathered over 1.8 million views in a year (seen below).



On June 1st, 2023, The Daily Wire co-founder @JeremyDBoreing posted a thread of tweets[2] detailing a series of events in which Twitter purportedly agreed to distribute the film What Is A Woman, before deciding not to go forward with the deal. Twitter also relayed to Boreing that the documentary would be censored if shared on the platform and unable to be shown to both followers and non-followers (seen below). The initial tweet gathered over 35,000 likes in a day.


Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of "misgendering." I'm not kidding. Here's what happened: 1/16 8:59 AM Jun 1, 2023 · 18.5M Views 8,842 Retweets 2,013 Quotes 35.2K Likes 1,591 Bookmarks Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 6/16 After reviewing the film, though, Twitter let us know that not only could we no longer purchase the package they offered, they would no longer provide us any support and would actually limit the reach of the film and label it as "hateful conduct" because of "misgendering." 59 6,293 il₁404.6K Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 7/16 Specifically: In the film, a father refers to his 14-year-old daughter as "her," and a store owner uses the "wrong" pronoun in a confrontation with a trans person. 44 643 We declined. 120 484 Jeremy Boreing ✔ @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 8/16 We reminded Twitter they removed "misgendering" from their policy, that the term "misgendering” itself is misleading, and that enforcing such a policy places them on the side of the most radical elements in society - the side most opposed to their commitment to free speech. 29 1 590 ₁369.7K 66 Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 9/16 Twitter clarified they only removed "misgendering" from their policy because they didn't need to be that specific, but that they still consider "misgendering" abuse and harassment. They gave us the opportunity to edit the film to comply. 6,192 1726 7,676 1 730 ₁365.9K 7,527 Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. 13h 10/16 When we asked how much they would lin the visibility if we posted the film anyway, Twitter replied that our own followers would not be able to see it in their feeds. This, they said, is part of their "speech not reach" policy. 6,450 ₁588.7K il₁402.5K

On June 1st, 2023, Matt Walsh tweeted[3] "one of the scenes" from What Is A Woman that Twitter qualified as hate speech and received a "sensitive content" banner on this tweet. The tweet gathered over 23,000 likes in a day (seen below).


Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog Visibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter's rules against Hateful Conduct. Learn more This is one of the scenes from What Is A Woman that Twitter now says is hate speech. We will still stream the movie here tonight in its entirety at 8 ET. Twitter has the next 12 hours to decide whether they want to be a true free speech platform or not. 0:00 9:32 AM Jun 1, 2023 · 1.4M Views 4,944 Retweets 485 Quotes 23.2K Likes 852 Bookmarks STAR WADE WARE : NA Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog Visibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter's rules against Hateful Conduct. Learn more This is one of the scenes from What Is A Woman that Twitter now says is hate speech. We will still stream the movie here tonight in its entirety at 8 ET. Twitter has the next 12 hours to decide whether they want to be a true free speech platform or not. 0:06 9:32 AM Jun 1, 2023 · 1.4M Views : 4,944 Retweets 485 Quotes 23.2K Likes 852 Bookmarks

The content warning banner was then subsequently removed shortly after (seen below).


Developments

On June 1st, 2023, Elon Musk's official Twitter[4] account responded to @JeremyDBoreing's tweets by saying that "this was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed." Musk went on to add that he personally uses people's correct pronouns as a matter of having "good manners." The post gathered over 89,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Shortly after, @JeremyDBoreing responded[5] to Musk in a tweet that gathered over 16,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).


Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing. Jun 1 Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of "misgendering." I'm not kidding. Here's what happened: 1/16 3,427 Elon Musk @elonmusk 11.4K 38.8K ₁22.2M Subscribe This was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed. Whether or not you agree with using someone's preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws. : I should note that I do personally use someone's preferred pronouns, just as I use someone's preferred name, simply from the standpoint of good manners. However, for the same reason, I object to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used. 1:33 PM. Jun 1, 2023 · 14.5M Views 8,262 Retweets 1,675 Quotes 89.6K Likes 1,400 Bookmarks Jeremy Boreing @JeremyDBoreing I appreciate the reply. We posted the two clips flagged by Twitter and they were indeed labeled "hateful conduct" and the share functions were disabled on the posts. We are trying to reach your team to determine what this means for those posts, whether or not our event tonight will be allowed to proceed unencumbered, and whether or not we will be allowed to purchase the live event page and reach block as originally agreed. : I appreciate your view of polite behavior, but our business is to debate public policy and philosophy. As such, we have an obligation to speak in ways consistent with our position. Our hope is that Twitter remains a place where we are free to do so. 2:07 PM Jun 1, 2023 1.6M Views 1,444 Retweets 80 Quotes 16K Likes 122 Bookmarks

On June 1st, The Daily Wire's Twitter account then uploaded What Is A Woman in its entirety (seen below).[6]


Also on June 1st, 2023, Twitter[7] user @robbystarbuck posted a series of tweets detailing the censorship blocks placed on Matt Walsh's clips from the film and The Daily Wire upload of the entire movie (seen below, left). Roughly 10 minutes later, Musk then responded to @robbystarbuck saying that the film will only be allowed to be shown to followers of The Daily Wire's account (seen below, right).[8]


Robby Starbuck @robbystarbuck Despite @elonmusk promising that the @realDailyWire film "What Is A Woman" by @MattWalshBlog wouldn't be censored, it seems someone @Twitter staff chose to censor it anyways less than 20 minutes after it was posted. You can't even comment. Whoever did this should be fired. Daily Wire @realDailyWire 18m Visibility limited: this Tweet may violate Twitter's rules against Hateful Conduct. Learn more Help rate notes submitted by Community Notes contributors Only visible to Community Notes contribu 4,901 7,169 1 218 622 Jeremy Boreing 8:35 PM. Jun 1, 2023 · 4.1M Views It's the movie they really don't want you to see: #WhatsAWoman? Watch the explosive documentary starring @MattWalshBlog FREE on Twitter for 24 hrs. 39:01 5,125 Retweets 242 Quotes 23.4K Likes 305 Bookmarks : cc Elon Musk @elonmusk Subscribe We're updating the system tomorrow so that those who follow @realDailyWire will see this in their feed, but it won't be recommended to non- followers (nor will any advertising be associated with it) 8:47 PM Jun 1, 2023 7M Views 1,278 Retweets 1,238 Quotes 11.2K Likes 310 Bookmarks

News about Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety Ella G. Irwin's resignation began to spread soon after the aforementioned events took place.[9]

On June 2nd, 2023, all censorship blocks on the video were lifted, with Elon Musk also notably retweeting the film himself. Musk's retweet[10] gathered over 100,000 likes in a day, eventually bringing the video's total viewership to over 11 million in a day (seen below).


Elon Musk @elonmusk Every parent should watch this DW Daily Wire @realDailyWire . 13h It's the movie they really don't want you to see: #WhatIsAWoman? Watch the explosive documentary starring @MattWalshBlog FREE on Twitter for 24 hrs. WARNING This program contains discussions of Transgenderism, Gender Dysphoria, and Gender Reassignment Surgery. 33.3K Retweets Some viewers may find the content and imagery disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. 8:25 AM. Jun 2, 2023 · 11.5M Views Subscribe 1,960 Quotes 112.4K Likes 11.3K Bookmarks

Online Reactions

Due to the controversial nature of What Is A Woman, the documentary's appearance on Twitter and the viral debate surrounding its censorship resulted in numerous reactions from Twitter users in early June 2023. For example, on June 1st, 2023, Twitter user @halomancer1 posted several tweets from both Matt Walsh and Elon Musk regarding the film being censored and uploaded to the platform, ultimately mocking Walsh's "big plan" tweet and receiving nearly 28,000 likes and 1,300 retweets in 15 hours (seen below).


Also on June 1st, Twitter user @JUNlPER posted a series of notable conservatives reacting to the censorship controversy on the site, poking fun at them and accumulating over 32,600 likes and 1,100 retweets in roughly 24 hours (shown below).


Search Interest

External References

[1] YouTube – Matt Walsh

[2] Twitter – JeremyDBoreing

[3] Twitter – MattWalshBlog

[4]  Twitter – elonmusk

[5] Twitter – JeremyDBoreing

[6] Twitter – realDailyWire

[7] Twitter – robbystarbuck

[8] Twitter – elonmusk

[9] Twitter – Reuters

[10] Twitter – elonmusk

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