• by Colin Kirkland , Staff Writer, November 3, 2023

Elon Musk’s new Twitter, now X, appears to be comfortable prioritizing a far-right political agenda -- solidifying its place in the social-media sphere as the “least censored” app, as the platform amplified conservative media nonprofit Prager University Foundation’s new anti-trans film with the hashtag #detrans via a “timeline takeover” on Thursday. 

Timeline takeovers offer advertisers on X top priority access to logged-in users’ first impression of the day, showing their chosen message to the largest possible swath of X users under the “What’s happening?” sidebar. 

X’s business site claims that takeover ads “are the most premium, mass-reach placements that drive results across the funnel by taking over the Timeline and Explore tabs.”

For many X users, the company’s choice to promote Prager University Foundation in this way has proven to be a political and isolating one, due to the conservative advocacy group’s history of doubting climate change and refusing to acknowledge the realities of slavery. 

The group’s timeline takeover is part of a larger $1 million marketing campaign to promote its new film, “Detrans: The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care,” which follows young people who regret their pursuit of gender-affirming care. The film uses propaganda to push a clear and misinformed anti-trans narrative surrounding the potential harms of such procedures.  

According to widespread research, gender-affirming care has been proven to be safe, supported by mainstream health experts with less than 1% of people expressing regret after seeking out gender-affirmation surgeries, according to a 2021 review of 27 studies that documented the experiences of almost 8,000 transgender patients.

“So-called documentaries like the one peddled by PragerU do nothing more than spread misinformation and stigmatize transgender people,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ right organization, said in a statement. “Given the growing threats of violence faced by the transgender community, offering a platform to this type of hate-filled propaganda is not just immoral — it’s dangerous. Today’s timeline takeover is another stain on the platform.”

According to X executives, PragerU’s campaign does not violate any of the company’s policies.

“The video doesn’t target trans people in a manner that would constitute a violation of our policies, but is primarily focused on transgenderism,” an executive at X told TechCrunch via email. “The video does depict trans people which may have been done without their consent, but given that the imagery seems to be taken from public sources (e.g., TikTok or IG videos), the right to privacy policy may also not apply in this case.”

Although it is very clear how offensive and harmful the amplification of such content can be to social-media users and members of the LGBTQ+ community, PragerU’s reasoning for advertising on X shines a light on recent criticisms of the platform’s lack of safety and brand suitability enforcement since Musk took the company over last year.

“PragerU has chosen X/Twitter specifically for this campaign, as it is one of the least censored social media platforms,” the organization wrote in a press release. “Since Elon Musk purchased X and removed restrictions previously placed by Twitter, detransitioners have been able to share their stories.”

In contrast to X, YouTube rejected PragerU’s ad takeover placement “almost immediately upon submission,” PragerU said in a press release. The advocacy group said multiple film festivals have also rejected the film.