Dr. Jordan B. Peterson was as confused as anyone after Twitter canceled a deal with the conservative media company to stream Matt Walsh’s hit documentary “What is a Woman?” on Thursday.
Peterson joined hosts Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, Candace Owens, Andrew Klavan, and Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing on a Twitter Space to celebrate the one-year anniversary of “What is a Woman?,” the film Boreing called the “most successful piece of content” produced by The Daily Wire. During the Twitter Space, the hosts also discussed the controversy surrounding Twitter restricting visibility because of two instances of supposed misgendering being labeled as “hateful conduct.”
WATCH THE DAILY WIRE’S “WHAT IS A WOMAN?” FOR FREE ON TWITTER
A few hours before its release, Musk had taken to Twitter to insist that the extent of the censorship had been a mistake, with the film being slated to premiere with the only restrictions being on advertisements and pushing the film to Twitter users not already following The Daily Wire. Yet the film was saddled with restrictions when it aired, with users unable to like, comment, or retweet the film as it was flagged just two minutes following the premiere. Musk later said that “Commenting & deliberate sharing [of the documentary] will be allowed. Sensitive content just won’t be pushed to people unless they ask for it or a friend sends it to them.”
Peterson tweeted his reactions to the drama that unfolded after Twitter labeled the documentary as “hateful conduct” and restricted its visibility.
“What exactly is sensitive about the What is a Woman content?” Peterson questioned. “I’m not being rude or provocative. We’re all here at the DW+ actively trying to figure out what’s going on.”
Peterson then wondered how the censorship of “What is a Woman?” could happen after Musk promised to center the platform on free speech.
“Who is in control at Twitter? The problem is no one seems to know… This is actually worse than outright suppression. Why? Because it’s not comprehensible,” Peterson said.
What exactly is sensitive about the What is a Woman content? I'm not being rude or provocative. We're all here at the DW+ actively trying to figure out what's going on @elonmusk https://t.co/mQd6owmqhe pic.twitter.com/drVWDZURiB
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 2, 2023
Early Friday, Twitter’s tag restricting the visibility of “What is a Woman?” was removed, allowing Twitter users to like and retweet the documentary, and Musk tweeted out in support of the film to his 140 million followers. Peterson asked his followers on Friday if they believed Musk “conspired to censor ‘What is a Woman’ … just to raise its profile” after Musk said the debacle would help “drive viewership.”
Twitter's @elonmusk and @dailywireplus conspired to censor What is a Woman (@MattWalshBlog's film, showing tonight) just to raise its profile:
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 1, 2023
The documentary released last summer was watched by people in over 70 countries, even as legacy media reviewers ignored the film and its effect on the culture. Soon after its release, “What is a Woman?” became the most-watched movie at home, according to Rotten Tomatoes, which also showed that audiences scored the film with a 97% rating.
Nathan Gay contributed to this report.