Twitter user @blackheartsora had her account suspended after she responded to a transphobic tweet from conservative pundit Matt Walsh with a photo of her kissing her girlfriend, who is also transgender.
Walsh tweeted "'trans women' never date other 'trans women,'" and @blackheartsora responded with the photo and the caption:
"@MattWalshBlog what do you mean? i'm [sic] literally right here dating another trans woman? hello?"
Her account was suspended shortly after tweeting the photo.
The most likely explanation for the ban is Walsh's fans mass reported the photo in retaliation, and Twitter's automatic moderation system suspended the account in response.
Twitter user @femboymoding, @blakcheartsora's girlfriend, tweeted about the suspension and Twitter's reasoning. She also clarified she was the other woman in the photo and she had definitely consented to the photo being posted.
\u201c@TwitterSupport you suspended my girlfriend for tweeting an "intimate picture of someone distributed without expressed consent". THAT IS LITERALLY HER AND I. what are we supposed to do? ask ourselves?\u201d— terra (@terra) 1673301169
People were incredulous a simple picture of the couple kissing was sufficient reason to suspend an account, while the tweet the picture was posted in response to was apparently perfectly fine.
\u201c@Esqueer_ Been seeing this a lot now where transphobes post stuff like "Trans people are mentally ill." & then someone says that's not true & THAT person, defending trans people, gets suspended. It's so obvious that Elon has personally told moderaters to suppress trans people and allies.\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1673358888
\u201c@ImGwendyToo Matt douch cannoe: Why don't Trans people date each other pretty sus?\n\nTrans people: We do here see\n\nTwitter: No you don't *Suspend accounts*\u201d— \ud835\udd40\ud835\udd5e\ud835\udd3e\ud835\udd68\ud835\udd56\ud835\udd5f\ud835\udd55\ud835\udd6a \ud83d\udc95\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud835\udd40\ud835\udd5e\ud835\udd3e\ud835\udd68\ud835\udd56\ud835\udd5f\ud835\udd55\ud835\udd6a \ud83d\udc95\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1673384797
The suspension was flagged as part of a larger pattern.
\u201cTwitter is allowing transphobes to say trans people are mentally, then banning, suspending, and removing tweets by anyone who pushes back against that shameless, dishonest bigotry. This is disgusting\u201d— Olayemi Olurin (@Olayemi Olurin) 1673115677
\u201c@MoObstreperous @IzzyKamikaze @TwitterSupport Elon Musk has no interest in free speech. The purpose here is to suspend account activity of those pushing back against the RW agenda by having them either delete the "offensive" tweet or wait for a hearing that will never come. @twitter\u201d— \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 M\u00f3 Pasar\u00e1n \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 M\u00f3 Pasar\u00e1n \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1673004827
\u201c@femboymoding @BlackheartSora It's amazing how conservatives could like the "tEcH cOmPaNiEs ArE tArGeTiNg Us" while others stay within TOS still get banned\u201d— terra (@terra) 1673301169
\u201c@twittersupport @twitter @blackheartsora was suspended for no reason. You let fascists attack trans people all the time and you suspend us and our allies? What are you trying to prove? That Musk\u2019s twitter is just an expensive version of 4chan? A cesspool of rw bigotry? \ud83d\ude21\u201d— Bianca the biological human being \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Bianca the biological human being \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1673295449
\u201c@femboymoding @meowxdiana @BlackheartSora incredible how nazis can say literally anything and not get banned but trans people can get banned for literally anything\u201d— terra (@terra) 1673301169
Many Twitter users tweeted their support for @blackheartsora and their disappointment with Twitter moderation.
\u201c@femboymoding @TwitterSupport @Twitter @TwitterSupport you unjustifiably suspended @blackheartsora for posting a picture of herself and her girlfriend kissing, fully clothed, claiming that it was "without expressed consent" even though both of them consented. Fix your mistake, please.\u201d— terra (@terra) 1673301169
\u201c@AudreyRoseBeav1 @femboymoding @BlackheartSora it's really sweet, like wtf\u201d— terra (@terra) 1673301169
\u201c@femboymoding @BlackheartSora I hate this app already, this is just a purely wholesome picture\u201d— terra (@terra) 1673301169
As of time of writing, @blackheartsora's account is still suspended, despite ample proof she didn't violate their terms of service.
@tonyhawk/Instagram