Twitter owner Elon Musk released a response on Thursday to address the news that his social media company had canceled a deal with conservative news outlet The Daily Wire to stream that highly controversial, yet very much needed documentary film, “What Is A Woman?” saying it was a “mistake by many people at Twitter.”
According to the report, “After Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform and his promised dedication to free speech, The Daily Wire sought a deal to stream Matt Walsh’s ‘What is a Woman?’ on Twitter for the documentary’s one-year anniversary. Initially, Twitter responded enthusiastically to the idea, even offering The Daily Wire a package to purchase a whole page for Twitter users to view the film, Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing said. That changed after the platform asked to view a screening of the film.”
“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,’” Boreing went on to reveal in a tweet thread that explained Twitter’s reversal concerning the deal.
“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 transgender woman,” Boreing pointed out specifically. And that’s the kind of clown world we currently inhabit, folks. If you dare to speak simple, basic biological facts out loud to the wrong person, you might find yourself listed as a bigot.
Musk, is out of the country on business, responded to the tweet thread saying, “This was a mistake by many people at Twitter.”
“It is definitely allowed,” the billionaire continued. “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,” he added. “However, for the same reason, I object to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used.”
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
Boreing then responded back to Musk, “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,” he said in another tweet. “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,” The Daily Wire’s CEO finished.
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
The documentary was first released in the summer of 2022 and was viewed by an audience that spanned the globe, hitting over 70 countries, despite the fact that mainstream media outlets ignored the film and the impact it was having on our culture. Not after the movie was released, it quickly made its way to being one of the most watched films at home, according to film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave “What Is A Woman?” a 97 percent rating.
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