X users have accounts restricted for using the term ‘cisgender’

Elon Musk says: ‘The words “cis” or “cisgender” are considered slurs on this platform’

The X logo on a smartphone on 24 July, 2023 in London, England (Getty Images)

Elon Musk’s X platform (formerly Twitter) has started taking action against posts that use the terms ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’, according to some users.

The tech billionaire announced last June, eight months after buying the company, that the LGBTQ-inclusive terms were considered slurs on the app.

No action appeared to be taken against users until this week, when reports of warnings and restricted visibility emerged.

“The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs on this platform,” Mr Musk wrote in June.

“Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions.”

(X/ Screengrab)

The newly enforced policy, first reported by TechCrunch on Tuesday, saw some users greeted with a full-screen warning when trying to publish a post using the terms on the X mobile app.

“This post contains language that may be considered a slur by X and could be used in a harmful manner in violation of our rules,” the warning stated.

On Wednesday, X users tested whether posting the terms would result in a ban. While no accounts appear to have been taken down, the visibility on the posts was restricted.

The posts were flagged with a note that stated: “This post may violate X’s rules against Hateful Conduct.

The company’s policy does not specifically mention the terms cis or cisgender, and have not been updated since April 2023, but they do outline what is considered to be hateful conduct.

“You may not directly attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease,” the rules state.

“We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category... In other cases, such as (but not limited to) moderate, isolated usage where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may limit Post visibility as further described below.”

The Independent has reached out to X for comment.

The company has previously changed former Twitter policy in order to allow users to misgender people without having their accounts restricted or blocked, except in places where it is required by local laws.