A content review from Meta’s all-powerful Oversight Board could force the social media company to include “misgendering”— using biological pronouns to describe people experiencing gender confusion — in its policies against hate speech, bullying and harassment.
Carrie Lukas, President of the Independent Women’s Forum, says such a change would stop organizations like hers from advocating for single-sex rights and spaces on social media.
“We constantly hear from women across the country who seek our help to protect the notion that women exist as biologically distinct from men,” Lukas wrote in the Washington Examiner this week. “Meta’s plans would stifle our advocacy and label these women bigots for daring to speak up and share their experience.”
Meta’s consequential decision hinges on a case before its Oversight Board, a group of experts that users can ask to review the company’s decision to censor content. Meta must abide by the board’s decisions.
In September, the Oversight Board chose to examine two videos, one of a woman asking a transgender-identified man why he was using the women’s bathroom, and another of a transgender-identified boy winning a trophy in a girl’s athletic competition.
The board “selected these [videos] to assess whether Meta’s approach to moderating discussions around gender identity respects users’ freedom of expression and the rights of transgender and non-binary people,” according to its case summary.
The group tellingly notes that, in both cases, users referred to the men by their biological pronouns.
Multiple users appealed the videos to the Oversight Board after Meta refused to censor them for being “transphobic” and “harassment.”
The company reasoned that “misgendering” didn’t violate its Bullying and Harassment or Hate Speech Community Standards. Moderators also granted both videos extra leeway because “these conversations are often part of social and political debates and the subject of news reporting.”
If the board decides to take the videos down, it establishes precedent for Meta to censor creators that recognize biological reality. The board’s intent to examine Meta’s “approach to moderation” also suggests it might recommend the company change its policy to make misgendering hate speech or harassment. Though not binding, these suggestions are still influential.
Preventing Meta’s 4 billion users from acknowledging biological truth would eviscerate women’s ability to advocate for and defend themselves from unfair competition, indecent exposure and injury.
“Women … deserve to say, out loud, that’s it’s deeply regressive to face unfair competition and unnerving to confront penises in their locker room,” Lukas states bluntly.
Riley Gaines famously faced these violations while swimming against Lia Thomas, a fully intact male formerly known as William, in college. She’s gained hundreds of thousands of loyal social media followers by sharing her story and supporting those with similar experiences.
Lukas connects platforms like Gaines’ to increased awareness about the dangers of men competing against women. According to data from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, American support for men playing in women’s sports declined from 34% in 2021 to just 26% in 2023.
“By preemptively short-circuiting the public discussion by removing videos as some are urging the board to do,” Lukas emphasized, “Meta would be censoring the view of the majority of people in the U.S. and diminishing the ability of all our citizens to examine a contentious problem and come to their own conclusions.”
The Oversight Board’s decision to evaluate these videos reflects a bizarre unwillingness to recognize and engage with the simple reality:
Men and women are chromosomally different in ways that make men more suited to tasks requiring strength, speed and cardiac endurance.
“Transgender medical interventions” can’t erase or change this cell-deep advantage.
Women suffer physically and psychologically when men join women’s sports.
If the First Amendment allows people on social media to express their sincere belief that they are an animal, surely it protects users’ right to affirm these three fundamental facts. Lukas says it best, “When free people are allowed to speak and debate ideas, the truth is more likely to emerge.”
Additional Articles and Resources
Riley Gaines to Nike: “Protect Girls, Just Do It!”
Four Women’s Volleyball Teams Forfeit — Won’t Play Team with a Man
Olympic Privilege? Officials Protect Women’s Sports – But Only at the Highest Level
Male Swimmer Lia Thomas Banned From Swimming at Olympics — Rightfully So
Lia Thomas Sets Eyes on Olympics, Challenges World Aquatics’ Policy on Transgender Athletes
Shoving Girls Off the Podium: More Male Athletes Participating in Girls Sports
International Swimming Federation (Mostly) Protects Women’s Aquatic Sports From Male Athletes
Middle School Girls Who Protested ‘Trans’ Athlete Are Banned From Future Competition
The Equality Act: Biological Men Competing Against Women in Sports is Problematic
Riley Gaines and 15 Other Female Athletes Sue NCAA Over ‘Transgender Policy’
New Study: Testosterone Blockers and Female Hormones Don’t Erase Male-Female Athletic Differences
Appeals Court Revives Case Disputing Men’s Participation in Women’s Sports
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