Pro-Censorship Trans Activists Irate That Bluesky Censored Death Threats Toward JK Rowling

After the 2024 election, many disgruntled X users flocked to Bluesky as an alternative. The largely liberal crowd claimed Elon Musk drove them away from X by refusing to censor what they considered "hate speech." But nine months later, the pro-censorship faction is distraught that Bluesky has begun censoring some of their own.

On August 15, trans director and writer Jessie Earl—known on YouTube as Jessie Gender—responded to a Bluesky post by trans author Gretchen Felker-Martin, referencing J.K. Rowling.

"I hope someone splits her skull," Felker-Martin said of the outspoken critic of the mainstreaming of transgenderism. 

"I also wish ill on JK Rowling," Earl added.

Bluesky suspended both Earl and Felker-Martin for 24 hours after their posts.

Outraged by the moderation, several members of "Trans Bluesky" (their equivalent of "Black Twitter") rallied in solidarity by reportedly posting their own "wishes of ill" on Rowling, including nonbinary author Dani Finn.

In an email to the trans news site Assigned Media, Jessie Earl insisted she hadn’t technically wished on Rowling.

"My words were mild—especially compared to Rowling’s own rhetoric about trans people," Earl said. "‘Wishing Ill’ is vague; it could mean anything from wishing her eternal torment to hoping her coffee’s lukewarm."

Not quite.

Earl – who describes herself as a "bisexual, leftist, transgender, non-binary, and agnostic" – commented that she "also wishes ill on JK Rowling" on a post calling to split Rowling's skull. Keyword: Also.

Bluesky confirmed as much in its statement to Assigned Media: "We took action because the user stated that they wanted to ‘split the skull’ of another person, who they named. This violates our policy of explicit death threats."

HBO released a statement defending J.K. Rowling amid woke outrage. What did the statement say? The network is making a "Harry Potter" series. (Credit: Getty Images)

Unfortunately, Bluesky then caved. Following backlash from the trans community, the platform restored posts like Finn’s and admitted that "it was removed incorrectly."

Content moderation shouldn't be this complicated. As OutKick has argued for over five years, internet platforms should only engage in censorship when a user threatens someone, incites violence, or doxxes private information.

In general, saying you "also" want to "split" someone's skull is considered a threat – a death threat, that is.

It’s hard not to cringe at the entitled trans activists insisting they should be allowed to make violent statements simply because they dislike Rowling’s views on transgenderism.

Per usual, one side is exercising their freedom of speech and the other side is responding with threats (and oftentimes acts) of violence.

Still, there’s a certain humor in watching the pro-censorship crowd rail so bitterly against censorship.