PragerU buys 'takeover' ad on X as part of $1M campaign to promote polarizing 'Detrans' film

The Prager University Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, purchased a “takeover” ad on X on Thursday as part of a larger $1 million marketing campaign to promote its polarizing film “Detrans: The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care.”

The 21-minute film focuses on two people who have detransitioned, meaning they previously identified as transgender and later decided they were not. Though both of them began transitioning when they were adults, their stories are part of the film’s larger criticism of transition-related care for minors, which has recently become the target of Republican state legislators, who have passed laws to restrict puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery in 22 states over the last three years.

PragerU’s X takeover represents X’s shift toward promoting more conservative — and, critics would argue, more extreme — views after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk purchased the platform and removed many of the policies that barred ads promoting anti-LGBTQ views or misinformation, reinstated accounts that previous Twitter management had suspended for anti-LGBTQ harassment, and shared an anti-trans video from his own account.

The "takeover" placement meant the ad for the "Detrans" was the first one displayed for most users of the social media platform throughout the day.