It has been a wild few days on Twitter after the Daily Wire, with its 1.7 million followers, posted Matt Walsh’s documentary What is a Woman? The documentary has been out of the closet and proudly irritating activists since June 1, 2022, but this is the first time it has been made available for free.

The Twitter post containing the video currently has over 104 million views – numbers that would make dying MSM weep.

It’s the movie they really don’t want you to see: #WhatIsAWoman?

Watch the explosive documentary starring @MattWalshBlog FREE on Twitter for 24 hrs. https://t.co/qDi7thCNid

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) June 2, 2023

When Musk purchased Twitter, he was credited with prying the social media platform from the clutches of Woke Warriors and their censorial rule. Gone were the legions of mini tyrants and without them, Twitter felt a lot safer.

To his credit, Musk has made significant progress when it comes to improving open discussion. Conservatives are no longer speaking in code to avoid predatory algorithms. The consequence of this has been a shifting of the Western narrative, proving the long-held suspicion that many of these extreme activist positions were being held together by censorial duct tape. Matt Walsh went further in his recent podcast, saying that radical trans ideology would not last a single day if everybody was allowed to speak freely without fear.

This social trust the public has placed in Musk was tested upon the appointment of Twitter’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino. Yes, she has a great track record when it comes to raking in advertising dollars, but there were plenty of people side-eyeing her appointment after her public conversation with Musk in which she tried to persuade him that advertising companies need a ‘safe space’ and should be able to curate the conversation on Twitter.

A grumble spread through Twitter. Advertising dollars, ‘safe spaces’, and political interest formed the Unholy Trinity that destroyed the platform under Jack Dorsey.

Musk rejected Yaccarino’s premise, but the limitations of her influence were left up to guesswork. Whose power would hold more sway? Yaccarino’s advertisers or Musk’s loyalty to his customers?

We were about to find out. Twitter promised the Daily Wire that their documentary, set to air at the beginning of June on its one-year anniversary, would be permitted on the platform. However, shortly after it went up, users noticed that a ‘visibility limited’ message had been slapped on it with an accompanying warning: ‘This Tweet may violate Twitter’s rules against Hateful Conduct.’

This warning meant that users could not reply to, like, bookmark, or reblog the post. It also stopped it from displaying on people’s timelines and removed the ability for people to DM it to each other. Additionally, according to Matt Walsh, ‘What is a Woman’ was deleted from the trend list.

What followed felt like a battle between the lingering legacy algorithms desperate to suffocate the documentary, and Musk’s team racing to unpick the code.

‘I did feel a bit demoralised for a time … when you come across these artificial roadblocks. After a while the constant onslaught … gets exhausting,’ said Matt Walsh, in his podcast. He also mentioned unconfirmed rumours that Musk was not very happy with the censorship and was working behind the scenes to restore visibility.

It was murky during the hours following the post, with Dr Jordan Peterson Tweeting: ‘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.’

It would be fair to disagree with Peterson here. The complexity of legacy censorship is written into every page, every command, every feature, and every algorithm on Twitter. Sometimes the tech teams cannot work out the full extent of the code until a live example such as this arises which they can use.

Putting the genuine tech issues aside, Musk was upfront that the advertising component would limit the reach of the post.

‘We’re updating the system tomorrow so that those who follow the Daily Wire will see this in their feed, but it won’t be recommended to non-followers (nor will any advertising be associated with it),’ said Musk.

Matt Walsh replied, ‘Elon, the film is being actively suppressed by people at Twitter right now as we speak. Why? And why would it take until tomorrow to take the hate speech tag off? And what does it mean that “advertisers won’t be associated with it”? Also, will it be shareable?’

Walsh added, ‘Is “misgendering” against the rules or not? You bought the company and reinstated the Babylon Bee after a “misgendering” violation. Now you’re telling us that our film will be suppressed on those same grounds. This makes no sense.’

‘Commenting and deliberate sharing will be allowed,’ replied Musk. ‘Sensitive content just won’t be pushed to people unless they ask for it or a friend sends it to them.’

‘Elon, have you seen the film?’ replied Walsh. ‘What is “sensitive” about it? There is content widely shared that shows up on feeds every single day that is far more outrageous and offensive than anything in the film. What specifically is the problem with the movie?’

No doubt the problem relates to how effective the movie is at highlighting the nonsense of society’s inability to define a woman. It gives the radical activist movement a thorough hiding.

This was a Litmus test for the new leadership.

Either Twitter users accepted that content reach would be determined by advertising interests, or free speech would be allowed to triumph. The size of the backlash brought the issue to a head in favour of free speech.

During the opening chaos, huge accounts were posting Tweets critical of the censorship, drowning out the dwindling community of previously famous people (who refused to buy their blue ticks).

In his podcast, Matt Walsh said that he found words of comfort ‘from his therapist’ Jordan Peterson, who said, ‘When you speak the truth whatever happens is the best possible thing that could have happened.’ This turned out to be true. More people have seen What is a Woman? because of the drama.

To his credit, Elon Musk attempted to help the documentary and keep his promise, reposting the video in a pinned Tweet to his 141.9 million followers saying: ‘Every parent should watch this.’ He also made encouraging follow-up comments such as, ‘World Champion Streisand Effect.’

When CNN went out and called What is a Woman? an ‘anti-trans documentary’, Musk replied: ‘I’m tempted to say that this will drive viewership of your movie but … no one watches CNN lol’

Everyone returned to being ‘friends’ after the censorship elements were removed even though the post never should have been flagged in the first place considering Twitter deleted the community guidelines that referred to ‘misgendering’ ages ago. Elon Musk wrote a Tweet that would have violated the same rules yesterday: ‘This is a major problem. I will be actively lobbying to criminalise making severe, irreversible changes to children below the age of consent. Shame on those who advocate this! It is utterly contemptible.’ From this it seems his heart is in the right place.

If nothing else, this slightly manic free speech saga ended up being a great leap forward in untangling legacy code from Twitter.

Ben Shapiro wrote, ‘Thanks Elon Musk! Overnight, visibility limits on the movie have been removed. Elon continues to work to make good on his pledge to keep Twitter an open platform!’

Finally, Musk wrote: ‘Works now. Only limit is that it will not be placed next to advertising.’

Which is my favourite part… All these years as a celebrity, and Musk’s Tweets still sound like tech support tickets.

Flat White is written by Online Editor Alexandra Marshall