Eventbrite Draws Conservative Anger Over Walsh Event Removal
Industry
September 14, 2022
Itir Yildiz 0
Eventbrite is in the crosshairs of conservative commentators over the removal of an event on its platform. The company delisted events for screenings of a documentary by Matt Walsh, What Is A Woman?, stating that it violated its terms and policies regarding hate speech.
The cancellation comes to light via a Twitter post by Maggie Fuchs, a TPUSA (The Turning Point USA chapter at Western Kentucky University) field representative, who shares a screenshot of an email from the company stating it has removed the event from the platform. The email from “Eventbrite Trust & Safety” reads that the platform encourages its organizers to express their views and gather for a chosen purpose as long as it’s done in a way that doesn’t violate its Legal Terms.
“We do not permit events, content, or creators that encourage hate, violence, or harassment towards others and/or oneself. In this instance, we have determined that your event expresses views that are in violation of our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service and is therefore not permitted on the Eventbrite platform.” It continues.
Paid orders are said to have been refunded in the statement. It is also added that repeated or severe violations of the company’s guidelines may result in their account being terminated.
Eventbrite removed our event to watch @MattWalshBlog “What is a Woman”. The event will still be happening. Show up and let’s show Eventbrite that their censorship will not stop us. It’s next Tuesday, September 13, 6pm in DSU 2123. https://t.co/h9sDcNv0Za
— TPUSA at Western Kentucky University (@wku_tpusa) September 7, 2022
Eventbrite’s refusing approach to screening the documentary led to angry reactions of the conservative community on social media. The creator of the film, the right-wing podcaster and columnist for The Daily Wire, Walsh took to Twitter accusing the platform of canceling screenings since at least July.
Released in June 1, What Is A Woman? is a documentary starring Walsh himself posing the question of the same title to psychologists, medical physicians, politicians, professors, and ordinary people on the street, which some have found his way of arguing on gender and transgender issues manipulating.
Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said in a statement that the event was made to open a discussion and celebrate free speech. Both Eventbrite’s and Walsh’s Twitter and Instagram pages received interactions demanding free expression and accusing the platform of censorship.
In a video after the announcement of cancelling, Matt Walsh defended his film by refusing it had hate speech, and criticized Eventbrite for making no explanations regarding his questions.
“In fact, nearly the entire run-time consists of me simply walking around and asking people questions. That’s almost the whole film. It [the film] actually provides a platform to many trans people and many professionals in the so-called gender affirming industry. I give them a chance to speak, I put a camera in front of them.”
“They make a dramatic declaration saying this hit film is hate speech,” he went on. “And then when you ask, ‘can you explain that? How is it hate speech?’ Nothing, no explanation.”
Controversial circumstances regarding the film dates back to early months of the year with an allegation from Eli Erlick, a transgender activist, that Walsh and his team had contacted people to be interviewed in the documentary under false pretenses by “trying to lure them into participating in an anti-trans documentary” under a group called the Gender Unity Project whose Twitter account was suspended shortly after the allegations went public.
Twitter also suspended Walsh’s own account temporarily for violating its hateful conduct policy with tweets what Twitter deemed offensive speech against transgenderism.
Eventbrite, has previously drawn conservative ire for practically the same decision, removing events related to a different, similarly conservative perspective documentary before, for allegedly violating community guidelines. It cancelled payments for an event featuring filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, citing rules on its platform against “misinformation”, and it led The Louisiana GOP to file a complaint with the state’s Attorney General. The event was to involve a screening and discussion of D’Souza’s film “2,000 Mules,” which claims to identify fraud in the 2020 election.
While the platform remains silent, Matt Walsh protests about Eventbrite’s taking down screening events for What Is A Woman and warns conservatives not to trust the company in business, not forgetting, in the meanwhile, to target events regarding drag shows on the platform: “So Eventbrite has banned screening events for What Is A Woman and yet will happily provide a platform for ‘all ages’ drag shows. Conservatives should keep this in mind before giving this company their business. They’ve made their priorities clear.”
Eventbrite hasn’t made any comments so far regarding the cancellation of What Is A Woman on its platform.
Last Updated on September 14, 2022 by Dave Clark
https://www.ticketnews.com/2022/09/eventbrite-draws-conservative-anger-over-walsh-event-removal/