Topics: Elliot Page, Celebrity, Twitter
Jordan Peterson's Twitter account has been temporarily suspended after the controversial author made disparaging comments about Elliot Page.
The Canadian clinical psychologist was responding to a news article where Page was celebrating his Umbrella Academy character transitioning from female to male in the show, which reflects the actor's real-life journey.
While many have been supportive of the actor and of the show, Peterson took the moment to write some fairly problematic things.
Not only did he dead name Page (which is when someone refers to a trans person's birth name), but he also said the actor had his 'breasts removed by a criminal physician'.
Twitter flagged the post for 'violating rules against hateful conduct' and asked the author to take it down.
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The social media company's 'hateful conduct' policy requires all users to refrain from promoting 'violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease'.
Twitter has a policy like this to ensure 'women, people of colour, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual individuals, marginalised and historically underrepresented communities' don't endure online attacks just for being who they are.
Peterson's daughter, Mikhaila, hit out against the flag from Twitter, writing on her account: "Wow. @jordanbpeterson got a twitter strike.
"No more Twitter until he deletes the tweet. Definitely not a free speech platform at the moment @elonmusk."
Others have also shared screenshots of the Twitter strike and called on the social media company and Elon Musk to help rescind it.
However, it looks like Jordan Peterson will not bow down to the Twitter overlords.
Speaking to The National Post, the clinical psychologist explained he won't be apologising for the rogue remarks, nor will he be taking it down from his page.
“I penned an irritated tweet in response to one of the latest happenings on the increasingly heated culture war front,” Peterson said.
“There are no rules on Twitter except don’t do what we don’t like today.
“They are always applied post hoc by algorithms and idiots bent on maintaining their woke superiority.”
He said he would 'rather die' than take down the post about Elliot Page.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers
