Twitter removes policy forbidding ‘deadnaming’ trans people

“Deadnaming” is a term used by the LGBTQIA+ community for using a person’s given name after they have begun identifying as another gender and under a new name, usually of the opposite biological gender.

Twitter designated using a person’s given name after transitioning, as well as intentionally using the wrong gender for someone as a form of harassment in 2018.

On Monday, Twitter announced that it will only put warning labels on tweets that are deemed “potentially” in violation of its rules against hateful conduct, and in this policy update the social media platform deleted the line against deadnaming from its rules.

Previously, tweets that were deemed potentially a violation of rules were removed.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD claimed in a statement that “Twitter’s decision to covertly roll back its longtime policy is the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike. This decision to roll back LGBTQ safety pulls Twitter even more out of step with TikTok, Pinterest, and Meta, which all maintain similar policies to protect their transgender users at a time when anti-transgender rhetoric online is leading to real world discrimination and violence.”

Following the shooter in the Christian Covenant School in Nashville being revealed as having identified as trans, many on the left, including outlets such as USA Today, criticized those in the media who "deadnamed" the shooter who killed 6 people, 3 of them children.