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Quick Take
X owner Elon Musk has rolled back policies intended to protect transgender people from harassment on his platform. But social media posts falsely claimed Pride-related content has now been “blocked on X permanently,” citing a purported “late-night announcement” by Musk. The claim originated on a satirical website.
Full Story
In October 2022, Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter and renamed it X. In a message to advertisers, Musk, who is a self-described “free speech absolutist,” wrote that he planned to make the social media platform “a digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”
But as CEO, Musk rolled back policies aimed at protecting transgender people from harassment online. In 2023, X removed a sentence from its hateful conduct policy prohibiting the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of trans individuals.”
In July, Musk announced on X that he would be moving SpaceX and X headquarters from California to Texas after California passed a law barring schools from requiring that teachers notify parents of changes to their child’s gender identity. “This is the final straw,” Musk said of the new law.
Musk has shown support for marriage equality, however. “People should find mutual love and happiness where their heart leads them,” he wrote on X in March. “I only ask of my gay friends that they have children for the continuance of civilization.”
Now, social media posts falsely claim that Musk has said he would block Pride-related content from X.
A Nov. 19 post on Threads shared a headline from “Luxury Blog” saying, “Pride Content Blocked On X Permanently, ‘Protecting Kids Comes First.'” The article purports to quote Musk as saying social media platforms need “to ensure that kids are exposed to ideas appropriate for their age.” Reactions from commenters were supportive, and most believed the claim was true. “Spectacular,” one user wrote. “Thank u elon musk.”
But the headline and the article were originally published on Esspots, a self-described “fake news” site, on Nov. 18, where it was labeled as satire. Some social media posts shared the headline and identified it as satire. But the Nov. 19 Threads post and others shared the article without labeling it as satire.
Pride and transgender-related content can still be viewed on X.
We reached out to X for comment about the social media post, but we didn’t receive a response.
Musk, a vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, has been the target of social media misinformation since Trump’s victory.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Meta has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Afreen, Uzma. “Musk Did Not Ban Stephen King from X, Contrary to Online Claims.” FactCheck.org. Updated 15 Nov 2024.
Conger, Katie, and Lauren Hirsch. “Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter.” New York Times. 27 Oct 2022.
Ivanova, Irina. “Twitter is now X. Here’s what that means.” CBS. 31 Jul 2023.
Keefe, Eliza. “Musk’s Starlink Was Not Connected to Vote Tabulation, Contrary to Online Claims.” FactCheck.org. 19 Nov 2024.
Sherman, Natalie. “Musk to move SpaceX and X HQ over gender identity law.” BBC. 17 Jul 2024.
Yang, Angela. “Twitter quietly changes its hateful conduct policy to remove standing protections for its transgender users.” NBC. 18 Apr 2023.