USA Today is facing some tough questions after deleting a tweet that appeared to defend pedophilia or at least explains it in a nuanced way that, well, raises tough questions.
The tweet read, “When most of the public thinks of pedophilia, they assume it’s synonymous with child sexual abuse. A pedophile is an adult who is sexually attracted to children, but not all pedophiles abuse kids, and some people who sexually abuse kids are not pedophiles,” and was posted at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. It has since been deleted. A screencap of the tweet can be read below:
The tweet was in promotion of an article on USA Today’s Life section titled “The complicated research behind pedophilia” which opens with a lede that reads “Pedophilia is viewed as among the most horrifying social ills. But scientists who study the sexual disorder say it is also among the most misunderstood.” The article then delves into many misperceptions about pedophilia.
But it appears that a Twitter thread in promotion of that story lacked broader context, and so the now-deleted Tweet stood out in a most curious manner that, well, raised serious questions about the social media management at the massive newspaper.
USA Today Life then explained via follow up tweet why the initial tweet was deleted, and added a link to the story with paywall removed.
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