2021년 3월 17일 성명서( sebadaoceans.tistory.com/8 )의 영문 번역본입니다. 번역이 미숙한 점 양해 부탁드립니다.
[Statement] Is Twitter only for neurotypical people?
- Sanctions against hate speech against neurodiversity
On February 11, 2021, when a neurodiversity comrade raised the issue of a traffic accident in Korea on Twitter, another user verbally abused him, saying, "역시 자폐새끼는 이래서 안됨 ㅋㅋ(This is why autistic children can't do this.)" We were shocked to see the malicious tweet. How violent is the idea that a person with different ideas, especially a person with different ND, can insult even his minority nature? The victim reported the remarks on Twitter. The reply from Twitter was, "We inform you that we could not find anything that violated the Twitter operating principles."
On March 17, the comrade had to hear another neurodiversity hate speech. "너는 소수자가 아니었어도 사회성 떨어지는 등신 찐따새끼였다고...(You were not a minority, but you were a idiot and dumbass with poor social skills...)" If you were a neurodiversity person, you would know how insulting the phrase "사회성 떨어지는(poorly socialized)" and "찐따(dumbass)" are. It is a word that puts a dagger in the minds of neurodiversity people who are unable to fully adapt to the existing society that is focused on neurotypicals. Furthermore, "등신(idiot)" is a word that disabled people have repeatedly insisted on not using. This was also reported by the comrade on Twitter, but the answer returned is the same.
According to Twitter's report, "There is something bothering certain users" and "It promotes an aversion to categories that need to be protected (e.g., race, religion, gender, identity, disability)." The hate speech that the comrade heard corresponds to both sides, but Twitter turned a blind eye to his report. Which part of these tweets in the world meets the Twitter operating principles? I ask readers to judge. Is the anger that Comrade and we felt when we saw the tweets really hypersensitive?
Twitter has been shutting down countless accounts of people who have caused controversy on Twitter. Those targets include those who run sexual exploitation accounts, those who lead cyberbullying, and Trump, who instigated congressional terrorism. Of course, Twitter should be praised for its hard work. However, if Twitter's efforts do not protect neurodiversity people and they rights, it cannot be seen as truly caring and respecting the socially disadvantaged within Twitter if neurodiversity people are missing from the "categories to be protected" defined by Twitter. It's just half-protection. No, even half of it doesn't feel meaningful to the ND. What does it mean if I can't be protected only neurodiversity, even if I am protected my various minorities on Twitter? How can I think of my identity as a sexual minority, a woman, and a worker completely separate from my identity as a neurodiversity? Is minority separation possible in the first place?
Consider Facebook, which never respected and protected the rights of neurodiversity people and social minorities. What happened to Facebook after all? The extreme right-leaning situation left Facebook because most users were exhausted. Now Facebook has become a place where advertising accounts and a small number of users remain and constantly make hate speech. Do you want your future to be like this?
There is a "broken window theory" that if one broken window is left unattended, crime will occur and spread around it. It is the window where hate speech about neurodiversity people is broken. If we continue to neglect such hate speech, the value of minority friendship that Twitter has boasted so much will become useless and Twitter will become a playground for haters. Before that happens, Twitter Korea and its headquarters should listen to the voices of our neurodiversity people.
April 11, 2021