Professional networking platform LinkedIn has removed social media posts discussing the fairness of boxing at the Paris Olympics.
Women’s Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong has posted material about Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who both competed against female athletes, despite concerns they may not be suitable to compete against women.
Wong said that after she posted about the ban on alternative platform X, her account was reinstated, but her posts regarding boxing and the importance of female-only spaces remained down.
“It is deeply concerning that LinkedIn considers posting about fairness and safety for women and girls to be ‘hateful,’” she said in a statement.
“It is not ‘hateful’ to stand up for women’s sport. It is not ‘hateful’ to defend the rights and welfare of women and girls. It is not ‘hateful’ to speak the truth.
“I hope LinkedIn will consider reviewing its policies and/or how they are applied so that the LinkedIn community can continue to have these critical conversations without being censored for ‘hate speech’ or having the fear of cancellation hanging over them.”
A LinkedIn customer service officer responded to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
“LinkedIn removed the post about the female boxer with XY chromosomes due to hate speech and mass reports from different countries,” they said.
Labor MP Backs Wong
New South Wales Labor MP Greg Donnelly spoke about Wong’s comments in state Parliament on Aug. 14.He said they were “considered and reasonable” given the boxers in question had experienced male puberty and had been disqualified from earlier women’s competitions.
“Nothing disrespectful was said regarding the two boxers in question and her focus was specifically on the welfare and safety of women who were being required to compete against them,” he said.
“It therefore comes not just as a surprise, but a shock that LinkedIn on Tuesday morning locked [Rachel’s access to] the Women’s Forum Australia account ... with the threat of being removed from the platform entirely and the reason given for the lock-out—hateful speech.
“These actions by LinkedIn are another example of a company’s appalling behaviour in censoring free speech about the reality of human biological sex, women’s sex-based rights to female-only spaces, services and sports and the harms of gender ideology.”
The two athletes have spurred ongoing debate about the issue of male athletes competing in women’s sports. In this case Khelif and Lin have been described as biologically female but having a condition that means they have male genetics.
However, the IBA itself was also barred by the International Olympic Committee from overseeing boxing leading into the Paris games.
This left a gap in Olympic boxing rules and no clear guidelines regarding the eligibility of Khelif and Lin. Both boxers would go on to win gold.
