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Twitter really needs to figure their stuff out. The social media platform has been the center of a lot of controversies because it won’t suspend racist and other phobic accounts. But the platform has taken the time to censor photos that include the hashtag #bisexual.
Today @Twitter @TwitterSupport introduced a search filter blocking photo search on #bisexual and #bisexuality hashtags (among others). (1/2) pic.twitter.com/W2yGZ0BrXH
— Bi Pride UK (@BiPrideUK) November 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/afterglowsdmn/status/927155317745561600
Hi @TwitterSupport just a question… why is the #Bisexual tag blocked ??? Twitter allows nazis and terrorists but doesn’t allow love??? Kinda strange isn’t it. 🤔
— Esther (@rocknprincess_) November 5, 2017
Bisexual people are stereotypically subjected to erasure because if they’re dating someone of the same gender they are considered gay and if they’re with someone who is the opposite gender then they’re more straight than gay. But in fact they are bisexual and like both genders! No matter who they are with! Because of this denial of bisexuality people who identify as such are erased from history, media and other platforms.
Twitter censoring bisexuality adds to the systematic erasure bisexual people have faced.
What does deliberate bisexual erasure look like? Click this hashtag and then see how many pictures come up: #bisexual pic.twitter.com/VEOUhoHiIZ
— The Bisexual Index (@bisexualindex) November 4, 2017
This is unacceptable discrimination, @Twitter! We will not be erased. We will not be silenced. #bisexual #BiErasure https://t.co/tfvs8qld1r
— Miriam H Szatrowski (@MHSMiriam) November 5, 2017
Filters erasing #bisexual content? Hey @Twitter, that sounds like discrimination based on sexual orientation. Also dangerous and cruel.
— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) November 5, 2017
.@TwitterSupport we’re surprised to see some searches for #bisexual and #gay blocked. We urge you to fix – #LGBTQ visibility matters. pic.twitter.com/RTjcCdl7Pc
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) November 5, 2017
Bisexual wasn’t the only term that Twitter has recently censored. They also blocked photo searches including the words vagina, clitoris and penis. So, bisexual was censored with a bunch of sexual terms. Grouping bisexuality with sexual terms furthers fetishizes bi-people. Another stereotype that bi-people have to face.
So you can do a Twitter photo search on "vulva," "breast," or "nipple," but not "vagina," "clitoris," or "penis."
— Angus Johnston 😷 (@studentactivism) November 5, 2017
Totally unacceptable that @Twitter is censoring #Bisexual posts. We are a community not a fetish. This is clear Bi erasure and must stop.
— Rob Davey (@robertdavey) November 4, 2017
Even though the LGBTQ+ community and its allies have tweeted out this blatant bi-erasure Twitter has yet to do anything about it.
