Twitter added disclaimers and put out comments and retweets for a post from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene mocking Admiral Rachel Levine, the transgender official in the Biden administration.
In two tweets, Greene (R-Ga.) referred to Levine, a transgender woman born male and given the name Richard Levine, as “Dr. Dick Levine,” a practice known as “deadnaming,” or a transgender at call his original name to mock and belittle him.
“We must do everything we can to prevent Dr. Dick Levine’s pre-teen #WeenieChop,” Greene tweeted from her official account.
Twitter declined to remove the post, citing Greene’s status as a public figure, but prevented other users from liking or commenting on it.
“This Tweet has violated Twitter’s hate speech rules,” the post read.
“However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
Greene mocked Levine by “deadnaming” her — calling her by the name she was given at birth before transitioning to a woman.via REUTERS
In a subsequent tweet, Greene wrote: “Now that I think about it. Like dr. Dick Levine pleads for ‘gender affirmative care’ for minors, did he undergo the #WeenieChop himself? Or is he just pushing this on kids?”
Twitter included the same disclaimer with that post.
Gay and trans rights groups condemned Greene and criticized Twitter for not going far enough in punishing Greene.
Twitter has disabled the retweet and comment options for Greene’s posts. The messages were posted on Greene’s official account.
“This account has repeatedly and intentionally violated Twitter’s Hateful Conduct guidelines against targeted dead names and wrong genders of transgender people,” said a spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said Axios.
“Clearly, some politicians see pushing malicious, anti-trans content on social media as part of their electoral strategy, even with full knowledge that such content is against the law.”
In any case, this is the third time Greene has been punished by Twitter for her posts.
Earlier this year, Twitter permanently banned Greene’s personal account for spreading misinformation related to COVID-19.
Greene’s personal Twitter account was banned earlier this year for posting COVID-related misinformation.Getty Images
Last year, it suspended Greene’s personal account for a week for similar tweets about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Levine has been subject to ridicule from right-wing Twitter accounts, such as the satirical news site Babylon Bee.
In March, Twitter suspended the Babylon Bee’s account after it posted a link to a news article naming Levine “man of the year.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly sided with the Babylon Bee, criticizing Twitter’s decision to suspend the account.
Musk, who initially promised to significantly change the site’s content moderation policy, agreed to pay $44 billion to buy Twitter, but then canceled the deal due to a dispute over bots and spam accounts.
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