A Little Good News

On this Sunday here is a little good news for those of you on TikTok…

TikTok bans misgendering, deadnaming trans people
In updated community guidelines released Tuesday, the social media platform also explicitly barred content that “promotes conversion therapy programs.”
NBC News
By Jo Yurcaba
February 8, 2022


The social media giant TikTok on Tuesday explicitly banned certain types of anti-LGBTQ content and speech on its platform.

In updated community guidelines, the company noted that it is “adding clarity on the types of hateful ideologies prohibited on our platform," stating that it will ban deadnaming, or using a transgender person’s pre-transition name, and misgendering, using incorrect pronouns.

The platform is also prohibiting “content that supports or promotes conversion therapy programs,” referring to a discredited practice that seeks to stop someone from being LGBTQ. 

“Though these ideologies have long been prohibited on TikTok, we’ve heard from creators and civil society organizations that it’s important to be explicit in our Community Guidelines,” Cormac Keenan, the company's head of trust and safety, said Tuesday in a statement. “On top of this, we hope our recent feature enabling people to add their pronouns will encourage respectful and inclusive dialogue on our platform.”

For me I am an old fogey who is only on Facebook, but many younger people are on TikTok and this is good new for them less harassment online. Ms Magazine said this about it.

The decision to ban anti-trans content is of particular note, as an October report from Media Matters showed a deep connection between transphobia and other kinds of far-right extremism—which researchers found was then being reinforced by TikTok’s algorithm. “Exclusive interaction with anti-trans content spurred TikTok to recommend misogynistic content, racist and white supremacist content, anti-vaccine videos, antisemitic content, ableist narratives, conspiracy theories, hate symbols, and videos including general calls to violence,” wrote researchers Olivia Little and Abbie Richards. The recent change from TikTok will no doubt lessen the probability of users falling down what Little and Richards call “far-right rabbit holes.”

LGBTQ advocacy organizations like GLAAD applauded the change to the guidelines. “When anti-transgender actions like misgendering or deadnaming, or the promotion of so-called ‘conversion therapy,’ occur on platforms like TikTok, they create an unsafe environment for LGBTQ people online and too often lead to real world harm,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD. “TikTok’s move to expressly prohibit this harmful content in its Community Guidelines and to adopt recommendations made in GLAAD’s 2021 Social Media Safety Index raises the standard for LGBTQ safety online and sends a message that other platforms which claim to prioritize LGBTQ safety should follow suit with substantive actions like these.”

But the right-wing National Review said…

“Misgendering” is activist-speak for referring to a person by the pronouns associated with his or her birth sex. “Deadnaming” means referring to a person by their birth name. And “conversion therapy” — at least in the context of transgenderism — means a range of tried and tested talk-therapies used to explore root causes of gender dysphoria in the hope of helping the patient become more comfortable with his or her body.

It’s bad enough that there are countless videos on TikTok glamorizing transition and uncritically reciting the dogmas of gender ideology. But removing all counter influence in addition to this will only worsen transgender social and peer contagion. Parents, take note — TikTok is no place for kids.

Notice how they say that "'conversion therapy' — at least in the context of transgenderism — means a range of tried and tested talk-therapies…” if it is so tried and tested how come every medical and psychological association says it is quack therapy?

You may now return to your Super Bowl pre-game shows.