Musk accused of flouting free speech by vowing to limit documentary

Elon Musk is accused of ‘throttling’ free speech after Twitter censors ‘What Is A Woman’ documentary: CEO says ‘misgendering’ trans people is RUDE – but banning film was a ‘mistake’

  • Elon Musk has claimed staff working under him ‘made a mistake’ when they reneged on an agreement to air the 2022 Daily Wire-funded film Thursday
  • Earlier, Musk – currently out of the country – was accused of flouting free speech for pulling the deal, which pertains to a planned airing of Matt Walsh’s 2022 film
  • Having agreed to air it for free Thursday in honor of a year since its release, brass are now saying the 95-minute movie contains two instances of ‘misgendering’

Twitter boss Elon Musk has been accused of flouting free speech for reneging on a deal to air a Daily Wire-funded film over claims it ‘misgenders’ trans people – claims the CEO later shot down by calling the decision a ‘mistake’ made by his staffers.

Laid bare by the conservative publication’s own CEO Thursday, the pulled deal pertains to Matt Walsh’s polarizing What Is a Woman – which Twitter brass are now saying contains instances of ‘misgendering’ that goes against its terms of service.

Detailed in a barrage of tweets that tagged Musk direct, Twitter’s supposed qualms with the film stem from two scenes staffers categorized as ‘hateful conduct’ upon viewing, claiming it goes against the site’s terms of service. 

Taking notice of the bizarre saga overseas was Musk – who is currently away on business in China – who seemed to suggest he had no knowledge of his workers’ decision, and even fundamentally disagreed.

That said, the outspoken mogul quickly criticized misgendering – the use of a person’s non-preferred pronouns – as a ‘rude’ practice he does not approve of.

While addressing the matter, the sudden assertion from Musk was somewhat vague,  the Wire wondering if the deal was still on – after they were told that the film’s previously sponsored screening would now be censored on the platform.

Elon Musk has claimed staff working under him ‘made a mistake’ when they reneged on an agreement to air a Daily Wire documentary Thursday

The pulled deal pertains to Matt Walsh’s polarizing documentary – which saw him interview various people about constitutes a woman. Twitter brass, after agreeing to air it for free Thursday  in honor of its first anniversary, are saying it contains instances of ‘misgendering’

This was a mistake by many people at Twitter,’ Musk, 44, tweeted from China in reply to posts outlining the controversy from The Daily Wire’s own CEO, Jeremy Boering. 

‘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.’

The film in question, released last year, follows Walsh – a Daily Wire columnist – as he questions the transgender movement and what it means to be ‘a woman’, often to mixed results.

Walsh, a 36-year-old far right activist, has been consistent about his view that transgender people are, in reality, the gender they were biologically assigned at birth – something he seeks to hit home at several points in the 95-minute film. 

Responding to claims that he and his new company were in violation of the First Amendment, Musk said that while he does not believe the intentional or accidental use of a person’s non-preferred pronouns to be a hangable offense, it’s still, at the very least, uncouth by his standards. 

‘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,’ Musk wrote after Boering revealed the bizarre sequence of events – and apparent miscommunication – that spurred his accusations online.

‘However, for the same reason, I object to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used.’

Boreing – who launched The Daily Wire with fellow founder Ben Shapiro back in 2015 – minutes late offered up a response asking for clarification on the planned Twitter Spaces screening, as well as the two companies’ now-up-in-the air partnership.

‘I appreciate the reply,’ Boreing, also 44, wrote in response to Musk’s tweet, which within the span of an hour had been viewed millions of times.

The exec went on to cite that a series of test posts containing scenes Twitter staffers had deemed problematic ‘were indeed labeled “hateful conduct”’ with their share functions disabled.

‘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 explained.

Meanwhile, Musk’s statement on the matter was decidedly vague, leaving CEO Jeremy Boreing – who unveiled the bizarre saga in a barrage of tweets a few hours earlier – wondering if the deal was still on

‘I appreciate your view of polite behavior, but our business is to debate public policy and philosophy,’ he continued.

‘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.’

Twitter – once thought to be a haven for First Amendment revelers following Musk’s $44billion takeover last year – recently removed ‘misgendering’ from their terms of service, but in statements to The Daily Wire, claimed that to be a misunderstanding.

Clarifying their decision, staffers reportedly told Boreing they simply removed their pronoun policy to streamline their hate-speech related policies.

With Musk away on a surprise trip to China – and the 2012 film set to air for free on Twitter’s Spaces in honor of its first anniversary – staffers explained they still consider ‘misgendering’ abuse and harassment, and would not be airing it as agreed.

‘They gave us the opportunity to edit the film to comply,’ Boering revealed Thursday in one of several tweets just hours ahead from the agreed air time of 8pm ET.

‘We declined.’ 

In the barrage of posts, the 44-year-old Texan revealed it was two scenes in particular that resulted in the deal being pulled, despite the film already being released for the better part of a year.

In one of those scenes, Boreing explained, a father refers to his 14-year-old transgender son as a ‘her’ – while in another, a store owner purposely uses the ‘wrong’ pronoun during a heated confrontation with a transgender woman.

Earlier in the day, Musk – currently overseas in China – was accused by Boreing of flouting free speech for pulling the deal, which Twitter said stems from two scenes in particular

In one of those scenes, a store owner purposely uses the ‘wrong’ pronoun during a heated confrontation with a transgender woman

Staffers deemed the scene – and another where  a father refers to his 14-year-old transgender son as a ‘her’- hateful after an test viewing, despite the film already being released for the better part of a year

The aforementioned altercation – and instance of misgendering – occurred after the transgender woman saw this sign hanging in the proprietor’s store. The Daily Wire said Thursday the refused to remove the scene to move the screening forward

Walsh, a father of four who hosts a Daily Wire podcast, confronts pro-choice protesters in controversial the film, quizzing them on what it means to be a woman

Released a year ago Thursday, Walsh’s documentary and book of the same title have been generally well received by audiences open to his issue viewpoints, but widely disparaged by individuals left of center

Walsh, a 36-year-old far right activist, has been consistent about his view that transgender people are, in reality, the gender they were biologically assigned at birth – something he seeks to hit home at several points in the 95-minute film 

Using Musk’s platform to announce the development, Boering recounted the behind-closed doors saga that predated it – while vowing to still screen the 95-minute film free of charge despite alleged promises from Twitter to ‘throttle it.’

One year ago today, we released What is a Woman?’ Boering began, revealing Twitter suddenly pulled the deal with no notice – and its new plans to ‘limit the reach of the film and label it as ‘hateful conduct’.

The exec explained: ‘To celebrate the occasion and expand the movie’s already enormous impact, we decided to give it away for free for 24 hours on Twitter.

‘With Twitter’s recent commitments to free speech, we thought it would be the perfect place to distribute the film and drive the conversation forward.

‘Twitter responded with enthusiasm and offered us the opportunity to buy a package to host the movie on a dedicated event page,’ he added, saying that as part of the deal, Twitter would promote the Twitter Space event to users during its first 10 hours, so that it would get more exposure.

‘We accepted and signed an agreement,’ Boreing said, before revealing how the newly announced nixing came to be.

 ‘After we signed, Twitter asked to see the film to better understand what parts may “trigger” users, so they could better prepare their response. 

‘They said they were still all hands on deck for launch, so we sent them a screener.’

Once the film got into the Silicon Valley firm’s hands, Boreing said, the deal fell apart.

Using Musk’s platform to announce the development, Boering recounted the behind-closed doors saga that predated it – while vowing to still screen the 95-minute film free of charge despite alleged promises from Twitter to ‘throttle it’

Using Musk’s platform to announce the development, Boering recounted the behind-closed doors saga that predated it – while vowing to still screen the 95-minute film free of charge despite alleged promises from Twitter to ‘throttle it’

‘After reviewing the film,’ he explained, ‘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.”

‘Specifically,’ he said, laying out the aforementioned scenes staffers took issue with while using the film subjects’ nonpreferred pronoun, ‘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.’

 The latter aforementioned altercation occurred after the transgender woman saw this sign hanging in the proprietor’s store. The Daily Wire said Thursday the refused to remove the scene solely to move the screening forward.

Boreing said: ‘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.

‘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,’ Boreing added, revealing he turned down a chance to edit the scenes.

When he asked how much staffers at the overhauled site would work to limit the the Twitter room’s visibility if they posted a link anyway, Boreing claimed he was told it would not turn up on any of the Daily Wire’s roughly 1.6million followers’ respective feeds. 

‘When we asked how much they would limit the visibility if we posted the film anyway, Twitter replied that our own followers would not be able to see it in their feeds,’ Boreing said.

‘This, they said, is part of their “speech not reach” policy,’ he added, referring to one of the new tenets of Musk’s self professed Twitter 2.0, which involves restricting the reach of tweets that violate their policies instead of outright pulling them.

Boreing pointed out what he claimed to be hypocrisies with the new speech standard.

‘Of course, saying “you have the right to speak, but we’ll make sure no one hears you’ is a bit like saying ‘you have the right to cast a vote, but we’ll make sure it isn’t counted.” 

‘That’s not a right at all,’ he wrote, before accusing both Twitter and Musk of joining ‘the ranks of the other tech superpowers in ensuring one side of the debate is suppressed.’

Boreing, however, added that Musk – an outspoken libertarian who over the years has become increasingly right-leaning –  ‘is not beholden to conservatives’, and thus has no official obligation to air the film.

The exec went on to cite that a series of test posts containing scenes Twitter staffers had deemed problematic ‘were indeed labeled “hateful conduct”’ with their share functions disabled

The film features interviews with polarizing figured such as Jordan Peterson, who earlier this year claimed that being transgender is a result of a ‘contagion’

‘He has the right to run his business as he sees fit,’ Boreing explained.

‘But if Twitter is going to throttle one side of one of the most important debates facing society, it cannot claim to champion free speech.’

He added: ‘I hope @elonmusk will reconsider this awful policy. If we can’t debate these issues on Twitter, where can we debate them? 

‘If conservatives aren’t welcome on Twitter, where are they welcome? It’s unlikely another centibillionaire will come along to offer an alternative.’

Amid this uncertainty over the screening, Boreing insisted: We plan to post the movie anyway tonight at 8:00 pm eastern. 

‘Will Twitter make good on their threat to throttle it and label it ‘hateful conduct,’ or will Twitter live up to its great promise? We’ll all find out together.’

Musk has yet to respond to Boreing’s public inquiry.

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