Scientist Begs Twitter CEO To Stop Censoring 'Uranus' As Offensive Content
Talking about the planet "Uranus" might get you in Twitter jail. A former NASA astronomer, Dr. James O'Donoghue was trying to talk about "planetary science" on the microblogging site when he realised that Twitter was blocking out responses because they contained the word "Uranus."
There is only one reason why that would happen. It appears that Twitter is reading Uranus as two separate words, which would actually be derogatory.
The same wordplay is very common on Twitter, all thanks to Lady Gaga's iconic song called "Venus" from 2013 wherein she used the word Uranus to give an empowering message about her own body.
While it's unclear if Twitter blocked out Uranus-laden replies owing to the word or some other content in the Tweet or due to the account owner, it was still marked as "offensive content", accompanying a standard Twitter label warning users to click "show" in case they do want to see the "offensive content."
?Regardless, the astronomer urged Jack Dorsey, Twitter's founder to add exceptions in language filters for the word "Uranus."
He promised Dorsey that they're just nerding out over the planet with no innuendos attached. We truly believe the scientist, but we're not so sure Twitter will - simply because of Stan Culture. Benign words like "ratio", "Uranus", and "slay" have become cultural markers of the times we live in.
If you don't know what we're talking about, the time has come for you to delve deep in the madness that ensues on Twitter every minute.
What do you think caused this confusion on Twitter's behalf? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
