Twitter owner Elon Musk confirmed conservative media outlet The Daily Wire’s documentary What is a Woman? can stream on the platform per a previously arranged deal.
What is a Woman?, presented by the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, was scheduled to broadcast free of charge for a period of 24 hours on Twitter to commemorate the documentary’s one-year anniversary.
The Daily Wire’s co-CEO Jeremy Boreing confirmed in a tweet thread the social media outlet had cancelled the originally agreed upon deal citing two instances of “misgendering” Thursday morning.
On Thursday afternoon, Musk responded to Boreing’s tweet confirming Walsh’s documentary would be allowed to stream on the platform.
“This was definitely a mistake by many people at Twitter,” Musk wrote. “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.”
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…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2023
Musk revealed he personally refers to people by their preferred pronouns just as he would use someone’s preferred name out 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,” Musk continued.
Boreing responded to Musk’s confirmation by saying he appreciated the response and noted two clips from Walsh’s documentary had been in fact labeled by Twitter as “hateful conduct” along with the removal of share functionality from the posts in question.
“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,” Boreing wrote. “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,” he concluded. “Our hope is that Twitter remains a place where we are free to do so.”
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…
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 1, 2023
Per the proposed deal, The Daily Wire was offered to purchase a package to stream Walsh’s documentary on a dedicated event page on Twitter. The outlet would have subsequently promoted the event to every Twitter user over the first 10 hours.
After The Daily Wire provided a screener of Walsh’s documentary for Twitter to review, the conservative media outlet was informed the platform could no longer purchase the package offered by Twitter. The platform also revealed it would limit the reach of the post and label the content as “hateful conduct” due to two instances of “misgendering” within the film.
The instances of “misgendering” include a father referring to his 14-year-old daughter, who identified as a transgender boy, as “her,” along with a store owner who uses the “wrong” pronoun during one interaction with a transgender identifying person.
Boreing said the Daily Wire reminded Twitter the platform had removed “misgendering” from their policy, that the term 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.
The social media outlet informed The Daily Wire that “misgendering” was only removed from their policy because they “didn’t need to be that specific,” though still consider “misgendering” abuse and harassment, according to Boreing.
“They gave us the opportunity to edit the film to comply,” he said. “We declined.”
Prior to Musk’s response, The Daily Wire co-CEO announced the conservative media outlet planned to post What is a Woman? to Twitter at 8 p.m. EST regardless of the social media platform abiding by the previously signed deal.
Musk has not provided additional comments as of Thursday afternoon.
It is unclear if the original terms of the agreement are still in effect.
