Elon Musk shares controversial anti-trans video, ensuing departures at Twitter

A right-wing, anti-trans video floating on Twitter caught the attention of Elon Musk, the beginning of an episode that would go on to trigger the exits of one of his top executives. On Thursday, pressure from conservatives built on the Twitter boss over a film by The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh.

Titled 'What is a Woman?', the one hour 35 minutes long video presses on intolerance of the transgender community and criticizes medical intervention for trans minors. Initially, the video had a decreased visibility on the platform due to the nature of its content. But hours later, Musk admitted that the throttling was "a mistake by many people at Twitter" and that he will make sure that it does not happen.

Musk shares controversial clip

He then declared that the clip will be accessible to the followers of The Daily Wire, however, "sensitive content just won't be pushed to people unless they ask for it or a friend sends it to them." But his promise was a fleeting one. In a tweet later, Musk shared the video and urged "every parent" to watch it. The controversial video was now pinned on the billionaire's handle.

"Consenting adults should do whatever makes them happy, provided it does not harm others, but a child is not capable of consent, which is why we have laws protecting minors,"  he added. Musk, who has an estranged trans daughter, pledged to actively lobby "to criminalize" gender-affirming care to trans minors that comes with "severe, irreversible changes."

Every parent should watch this https://t.co/pIp6UP6vq8

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2023

Exits begin at Twitter

According to NBC News, Musk's tweeting spree sparked two high-level departures at Twitter within a matter of 24 hours. Ella Irwin, the chief of Twitter’s trust and safety division, quit the company the same day after a long period of leading the platform's content moderation policies. 

It's been a wild 24 hours. It began with Twitter labeling our film hate speech and completely suppressing it, and ends with all suppression lifted and Elon Musk himself tweeting out the film and urging people to watch it. A huge win.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 2, 2023

Matt Walsh described the fallout as a "wild 24 hours." Responding to him, one user claimed that two employees of Twitter's trust and safety team quit. "I'd like to know if that's related because that would be hilarious," the user wrote, to which Musk responded with "Director related".