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On December 19, 2019, Facebook quietly updated its Community Standards on “hate speech” and prohibited “statements denying existence” based on “gender identity.” Since Facebook users can enter custom gender identities, this update means that denying the existence of a potentially unlimited number of gender identities could now result in a permanent account ban.

In its Community Standards on hate speech, Facebook says that these rules apply to “protected characteristics” which it defines as “race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, and serious disease or disability.”

While most of these are immutable characteristics, gender identity is not. Facebook allows users to choose from more than 50 different pre-filled gender identities which include:

Agender Androgyne Androgynous Bigender Cis Cisgender Cis Female Cis Male Cis Man Cis Woman Cisgender Female Cisgender Male Cisgender Man Cisgender Woman Female to Male FTM Gender Fluid Gender Nonconforming Gender Questioning Gender Variant Genderqueer Intersex Male to Female MTF Neither Neutrois Non-binary Other Pangender Trans Trans* Trans Female Trans* Female Trans Male Trans* Male Trans Man Trans* Man Trans Person Trans* Person Trans Woman Trans* Woman Transfeminine Transgender Transgender Female Transgender Male Transgender Man Transgender Person Transgender Woman Transmasculine Transsexual Transsexual Female Transsexual Male Transsexual Man Transsexual Person Transsexual Woman Two-Spirit

If users aren’t happy with these 50+ gender identity options, they can also enter their own and identify as anything they want.

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Facebook doesn’t outline specific punishments for saying a gender identity doesn’t exist but its Community Standards say punishments can range from a warning to an outright ban:

“The consequences for violating our Community Standards vary depending on the severity of the violation and the person’s history on the platform. For instance, we may warn someone for a first violation, but if they continue to violate our policies, we may restrict their ability to post on Facebook or disable their profile. We also may notify law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or a direct threat to public safety.”

One of the main impacts of this policy is likely to be that statements in support of biological sex could get users banned from Facebook. For example, statements such as “men cannot change into women” could be perceived as denying the existence of someone’s gender identity.

People who say that biological sex is real, or joke about transgender people are increasingly being maligned by both big tech platforms and outraged users.

When comedian Ricky Gervais responded to a “trans woman” parody account with a joke, he was accused of “veiling” his transphobia in satire and journalists even contacted the Golden Globes in what appeared to be an attempt to get him deplatformed from hosting the event.

Twitter also bans users for “misgendering” transgender people with feminist journalist Meghan Murphy being banned under this policy in 2018.

While the censorship of people who say biological sex is real is one of the most likely outcomes of this Community Standards update, it could reach even further. Because Facebook allows people to choose any gender identity, people could also potentially have their account terminated for saying that dragons, unicorns, or anything else that someone writes in their gender identity box isn’t real.

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