Sophia Michaels
Elon Musk’s Twitter continues to function about as well as a Tesla in self-driving mode, with Dave Davies and the Kinks bearing the brunt of the platform’s latest hiccups: Last night, Davies complained that Twitter kept placing sensitive content warnings on all of his tweets about the Kinks, ostensibly because the band name was being confused with, well, sexual kinks.
“Dear @elonmusk would @Twitter please stop putting warnings on everything from ‘the Kinks,’” Davies wrote. “We are just trying to promote our Kinks music @TheKinks #thekinks60.” Accompanying the post was a screen grab of Davies linking to a Kinks video on TikTok, which featured the message, “We put a warning on this Tweet because it might have sensitive content.”
In case Musk and Twitter needed a little extra context and history, Davies added, “The Kinks are a brand name. We have been called the Kinks since 1963.”
Davies did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment on whether the Kinks-shaming issue had been sorted. As of publication, it appears that links to a couple of videos shared by the Kinks are still hidden with sensitive content warnings; however, it should be noted that they are only hidden if users uncheck the box in their settings that reads, “Display media that may contain sensitive content.”
It does appear that Davies isn’t the only person on Twitter battling arbitrary, superfluous, or arguably puritanical sensitive content warnings. For instance, popular fashion bloggers Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez recently complained that many of their tweets about New York Fashion Week were being flagged. A quick scroll through their feed revealed hidden links about Quinta Brunson’s various looks and the Thom Browne Fall 2023 collection.
More in line with the Kinks’ situation, the sensitive content system appears to be targeting media that’s even vaguely sexual in nature, such as a Buzzfeed story published yesterday about the Guinness Book of World Records declining to recognize the world’s largest dick pic. (Again, these links are only hidden if you uncheck that box in your settings.)
Hopefully, Twitter can start sorting this issue out if all its engineers are done making sure Musk’s tweets get as much engagement as he needs to fill the gaping hole in his soul. Or we’ll just have to wait until a new CEO’s in place — maybe.
