The progressive left is still smarting over the fact that Elon Musk owns Twitter now. Shortly after he took over the platform, members of the activist media published op-eds and reports designed to discredit him. They lied about the proliferation of supposed “hate speech” since he took the captain’s chair. You would think the furor would have died down, but the Associated Press is still keeping the fight going with an article on a report from a prominent LGBTQ advocacy group excoriating Twitter for being unfriendly to the community.
According to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s (GLAAD) annual Social Media Safety Index, major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, are failing to adequately protect LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment.
Predictably, the report ranked Twitter the lowest. The authors claim that since Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media giant, attacks on LGBTQ+ users have increased significantly, attributed to staffing cuts and Musk’s “free-speech absolutist” stance:
All major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming, the advocacy group GLAAD said Thursday. But Twitter is the worst.
In its annual Social Media Safety Index, GLAAD gave Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter low or failing scores, saying the platforms don’t do enough to keep their users safe. That said, most improved from a year ago.
Twitter, which was acquired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk last October, was the only exception. GLAAD’s scorecard called it “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people” and the only one that saw its scores decline from last year — to 33% from 45% a year ago.
Some of the report’s “key findings” for 2023 include factors such as:
Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on social media translates to real-world offline harms.
The problem of anti-LGBTQ hate speech and disinformation continues to be an alarming public health and safety issue.
Platforms also disproportionately suppress LGBTQ content, including via removal, demonetization, and forms of shadowbanning.
GLAAD gave Twitter a dismal 33 percent score for protecting members of the LGBTQ community, a 12-point drop from what it had last year prior to Musk taking over the company. Big shocker there, right?
The report explained:
Twitter falls short of providing adequate transparency in other key areas. The company currently does not disclose a feature that gives users an option to add their gender pronouns to their profiles. The company also does not disclose options for users to control the company’s collection and inference of information related to their sexual orientation and gender identity. Further, Twitter does not disclose whether it has an LGBTQ policy lead who addresses the needs of LGBTQ users, or whether it has a formal training in place that educates all employees on the needs of LGBTQ users.
The report then calls out a number of conservative political and media influencers for making LGBTQ folks less safe on Twitter. These include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik, and more. The authors took issue with the existence of “grooming content” on the platform, referring to the label folks on the right place on those wanting schools to instruct small children on gender identity and sexuality. Of course, they leave the part about messing with kids out of that particular section.
The report suggested that Twitter’s lack of protections for LGBTQ folks was causing real-world consequences. “There isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t have a doxxing situation for somebody in our community that we have to come in and help them stop it and stop the hate, stop the vitriol and stop the attacks,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and President of GLAAD.
If there is doxxing going on, then it’s definitely an issue that should be addressed. It’s not outside the realm of possibility because people of all political persuasions have dealt with doxxing – Raichik is an example. However, neither the article nor report give any data or examples proving that Musk has somehow made Twitter harmful for members of the LGBTQ community.
The bottom line is that if a social media platform is being used to call for, or cause violence against individuals, something should be done about it. The same holds true for actual harassment. But having to see viewpoints that offend you on an online platform is not the same as not being safe. It is easy to mute and block certain people on Twitter; in fact, you can even mute certain words and phrases. One can curate the type of content they want to see to have the experience they wish to have.
This report, along with the Associated Press’ article, is just another pathetic hit job on Elon Musk for allowing people to say what they want to say (for the most part) on Twitter. They liked it better when the company shadowbanned, censored, and suspended accounts for espousing views that progressives don’t like. Unfortunately for Musk, it appears he will just have to be satisfied with that 33 percent rating.
