Twitter’s bisexual hashtag is still broken, and people are furious
Twitter has promised to fix the #bisexual hashtag – but it remains offline today.
Regular posts are still available, giving users angry with the development the chance to group together in their condemnation of Twitter.
Many, including campaigner Lewis Oakley, saw the move as bi-erasure.
Writing for PinkNews, Oakley explained: “Twitter erasing bisexuals is problematic because at this stage in bi history it’s really one of the only tools we have.
“Twitter, particularly in recent times had become a place for bisexuals to connect regardless of where they are in the world,” he added.
“It’s helped us band together and tackle the unique issues we face and helped pop stereotypes.”
Others pointed out that the site struggles to protect users from the abundant hate on its platform, but sure can hide an LGBT hashtag in the blink of an eye.
Yesterday, Twitter apologised and pledged to fix the issue, saying: “We’ve identified an error with search results for certain terms.
“We apologise for this.
“We’re working quickly to resolve & will update soon.”
It’s not the first time that Twitter has sparked outrage this year, after it assumed people’s genders based on their “profile and activity” in May.
With the bisexual hashtag still not bringing up anything under the Photos or Videos tabs today, the frustration among bisexual users is palpable.
Twitter: [blocks #bisexual and #lesbian photos]
also Twitter: [has yet to do anything about removing Nazis from their platform] pic.twitter.com/L8h59FKd93— gingernutter (@cyanidezone) November 6, 2017
The situation is reminiscent of when YouTube hid hundreds of thousands of LGBT videos from people using the site’s Restricted Mode earlier this year.
Google, which owns the site, initially defended the phenomenon, saying that it regretted any “confusion,” but explaining that some videos discussed issues which were too “sensitive”.
Eventually the site relented, admitting that it had made “mistakes” and promising that it was “going to fix” the problem.
