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Dawkins had spoken out against a rule that allows male athletes to compete in female categories. (@MarioNawfal/X)
Elon Musk criticizes Meta for deleting Richard Dawkins’ Facebook account over his views on gender in sports. The incident sparks a debate about free speech and content moderation
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly criticized Meta after the technology giant deleted the Facebook account of renowned British biologist and bestselling author Richard Dawkins.
Dawkins announced on Saturday that his account was deleted after he commented on the participation of genetically male athletes in the Paris Olympics, referring to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. In a post on X, Musk expressed his disapproval of Meta’s content moderation policies, stating: “Facebook, aka ‘Meta,’ can never be trusted.”
Dawkins spoke out against policies that allow male athletes to compete in female categories, which he believes undermines fairness in sport. He clarified that his comments were made on X and not Facebook, but that his Facebook account has been deleted.
Dawkins expressed frustration at the lack of justification for the removal, stressing that while his opinion is open to civilised debate, he finds blatant censorship unacceptable. He said: “My entire @facebook account has been deleted, apparently (with no reason given) because I tweeted that genetically male boxers like Imane Khelif (XY undisputed) should not fight women at the Olympics.”
The incident, which took place during the ongoing Paris Olympics, has sparked a broader discussion about free speech and the responsibility of social media platforms in moderating content. So far, Meta has not directly responded to Musk’s remarks or the controversy surrounding the deletion of Dawkins’ account.
British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’ entire Facebook account has been DELETED after he posted about Olympic boxer Imane Khelif having male chromosomes. “My entire Facebook account has been deleted, apparently (with no reason given) because I tweeted that genetically male… pic.twitter.com/jtkp587Xox
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) 10 August 2024
The debate over gender acceptability in sport has intensified following Khelif’s victory over Taiwan’s Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg final. The fight has been under intense scrutiny in the French capital for the past two weeks. Amid the ongoing dispute, Olympic boxing champion Khelif filed a lawsuit in France for online harassment, her lawyer said on Saturday.
“Boxer Imane Khelif has decided to start a new fight, a fight for justice, dignity and honour,” Nabil Boudi said in a statement, adding that Khelif had filed a complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office for “serious online harassment”. He added: “The investigation will clarify who is behind this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign, but must also deal with those who supported the online lynchings.”
The “unjustified harassment” to which the boxing world champion was subjected will remain “the biggest stain on these Olympic Games,” Boudi said. On Friday, after her victory, Khelif said the gold medal she won was the best answer to her critics. Asked by reporters about the dispute over her eligibility to participate, she said: “I am fully qualified to participate, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived as a woman and competed as a woman.”
(With agency contributions)