When on Twitter, from time to time I check in on Lindsay Shepherd. We have occasionally conversed on Twitter and met in person in February 2018 when she appeared at Harvard. However, when I tried to check in this morning she was nowhere to be found. I soon learned why.
Yesterday, Twitter banned Shepherd following an exchange with Jessica Yaniv, an individual who identifies as a transgender woman. Yaniv has gained notoriety for bringing complaints to human rights tribunals because estheticians have refused to wax "her" male genitalia.
For its part Twitter claimed Shepherd was engaging in "abusive behavior" against Yaniv. Yet it was Yaniv who took aim at Shepherd who recently gave birth to first child. Yaniv tweeted “at least my pussy is tight and not loose after pushing out a 10 pound baby.” Shepherd replied, “This is how men who don’t have functional romantic relationships speak. But… I guess that’s kinda what you are!”
Yaniv then escalated matters when he tweeted about Shepherd's septate uterus, a medical condition which increases the risk of miscarriages. “I heard @realDonaldTrump is building a wall inside of your uterus aka your ‘reproductive abnormality’ hopefully the walk works as intended,” Yaniv tweeted. Shepherd fired back, “At least I have a uterus, you fat ugly man. Of course, he thinks reproductive issues are something to be mocked.”
Shepherd subsequently deleted the tweets, but this did not matter to Twitter who banned her anyway and denied Shepherd's appeal. Meanwhile, Yaniv remains on Twitter without consequence and emboldened. While Shepherd acknowledged Twitter could do what it saw fit she told The National Post:
Because this is a trans individual they are untouchable … they are allowed to mock and taunt me about my biology, they can say whatever crude things they want. But when it comes to me wanting to take a shot back at that person and wanting to stand up for myself — or for my womanhood so to speak — I am permanently kicked off.
Shepherd's ban is also noteworthy in light of recent events regarding the Twitter account of Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. Last week, Twitter ordered Farrakhan to delete a tweet which described Jews as "termites" following the adoption of a new policy prohibiting "language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion." . However, his account remains intact while numerous other anti-Semitic tweets remain such as, "Hollywood’s Casting Couch: 'The wicked practices that govern their industries are largely justified and influenced by such Talmudic principles.'"
So why is it that Farrakhan gets to keep his Twitter account after deleting a single anti-Semitic tweet, but bars Shepherd for life after she deleted a tweet in which she was defending herself from a personal attack?
Why do anti-Semitic tweets get a slap on the wrist while tweets directed towards transgendered individuals (even when deleted) result in a lifetime ban?
Indeed, why does Twitter permit Farrakhan who has been public with his anti-Semitic views for decades permitted to have a platform? Is Twitter afraid of being accused of being racist and Islamophobic? Or does Twitter simply view some people as more equal than others?
Whatever the answer it is clear that Twitter has some serious problems if Louis Farrakhan is welcome in its universe and Lindsay Shepherd isn't.
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