Twitter owner Elon Musk said the words “cisgender” and “cis” are now considered slurs on Twitter after a user said they were harassed online by transgender activists.
The user wrote that he rejected the word “cis” and “cisgender,” which are often used by transgender individuals to describe heterosexual people.
Musk, who purchased the platform last year, wrote in response Wednesday that “repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions.” He added, “The words ‘cis’ or ’cisgender' are considered slurs on this platform.”
The Tesla CEO also commented on a Twitter poll asking if “cis” is a slur. About 78 percent of respondents voted “yes,” it shows.
“People overwhelmingly reject this obvious slur that bigots are trying to impose,” Musk wrote in response.
It’s not clear, however, if the plans to penalize accounts that use the two words will be enforced. Musk also said that people can call themselves “anything you want“ in response to a question about people who want to call themselves ”cisgender.”
It comes weeks after a top Twitter executive responsible for safety and content moderation has left the company, her departure coming soon after Musk said the platform didn’t handle certain posts about transgender topics well. Musk sounded the alarm after Twitter appeared to restrict Matt Walsh’s “What Is a Woman?” documentary.
“This was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed,” Musk wrote in response to Walsh and other employees of the Daily Wire. “Whether or not you agree with using someone’s preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws.”
Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, confirmed her resignation in a pair of posts last week. She did not say in the message why she was leaving, but her departure came shortly after Musk targeted his company’s handling of tweets about the documentary that questions the medical industry’s handling of transgender cases.
Irwin wrote: “In all seriousness, I did resign but this has been a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so thankful to have worked with this amazing team of passionate, creative and hardworking people. Will be cheering you all and Twitter as you go!”
The Epoch Times reached out to the company for comment and received an automated email that features an emoji.