In a move that has sparked widespread controversy, Facebook has temporarily blocked users from searching for and viewing posts tagged with the #XX hashtag.
This action comes in the wake of a contentious situation involving two athletes participating in the women's Olympic boxing competition in Paris. When attempting to search for the hashtag, users are met with a message stating, Keeping our community safe: Posts with #XX are temporarily hidden here. Some content in those posts goes against our community standards. A link provided alongside the message directs users to Facebooks community standards policy.
As reported by The Post Millennial, the #XX hashtag, a reference to the female XX chromosomes, has gained significant traction following the actions of two female Olympic boxers. After their respective defeats, the athletes made X symbols with their fingers, a gesture seen as a protest against the participation of two athletes who, despite having XY chromosomes as stated by the International Boxing Association (IBA), were cleared by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete.
The IBA had previously disqualified the two athletes from its female competitions after tests revealed they had XY chromosomes. However, the IOC, which does not conduct chromosome tests when determining eligibility for its male and female categories, allowed their participation. The IOC maintains that such genetic tests are not scientifically solid and does not recognize the IBA as a sporting authority.
The X symbol was first displayed by Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria after her defeat against Taiwans Lin Yu-Ting. Esra Yildiz of Turkey followed suit after her loss to Lin. Chinese runner Lin Yuwei also made the X symbol before a womens 100-metre hurdle race.
In addition to Lin, the other athlete competing in the women's category is Imane Khelif of Algeria. Khelif clinched an Olympic gold medal in the welterweight finals, while Lin is set to compete in the featherweight gold medal bout.
The participation of these two athletes has ignited a debate on fairness and safety in womens sports. The controversy is centered around policies that permit athletes to compete in categories based on their gender identity or allow athletes with disorders of sexual development (DSDs) to compete in categories that may not align with their biological sex. Notably, neither of the athletes involved in the Paris Olympics controversy identifies as transgender.
The discourse surrounding this controversy, both online and in the media, has been fraught with misinformation and confusion. Left-wing media outlets have been accused of obscuring facts about biological sex and DSDs. Accusations of transphobia and a supposed Russian conspiracy involving the IBA's attempt to clarify the athletes biological sex have also been thrown into the mix.
Facebook's decision to censor the #XX hashtag is seen by many as an attempt to silence those advocating for fairness and safety in women's sports and those standing up for biological reality. Facebook's community standards claim to include different views and beliefs, particularly from marginalized communities. On the topic of safety, the company asserts that it will remove content that could pose a risk to the physical security of individuals.
The ban on the #XX hashtag has been met with significant backlash online. Jean Hatchet, a writer and feminist, posted, Female defiance must be smashed. Keep being defiant. Womens rights advocate Sall Grover commented, Getting people [to] believe that men are women is only possible with a lot of censorship. These reactions underscore the ongoing debate about the intersection of biology, identity, and competitive fairness in sports.
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