Last Updated on March 20, 2022
Twitter has censored The Babylon Bee over a tweet that referred to the Biden Administration’s transgender HHS Secretary, Rachel Levine, as a man. Twitter is claiming that the post violates their policy against hate speech. Twitter has locked the Babylon Bee’s account, demanding they remove the post, but Bee CEO Seth Dillon says he won’t delete the truth.
Levine, who is a biological male and went by the name of Richard before proclaiming womanhood and transitioning in 2011, was recently named “Woman Of The Year” by the far-left USA Today newspaper. In a tweet from The Babylon Bee, the satirical publication spoofed The USA Today’s announcement, saying that “The Babylon Bee’s Man Of The Year is Rachel Levine.”
That tweet apparently violated Twitter’s policies against “hateful conduct,” prompting a 12-hour lock of The Babylon Bee’s account. By locking the account, Twitter is able to directly censor the satire site by preventing them from posting new tweets and accessing other basic functions.
“I just received this notice that we’ve been locked out of our account for ‘hateful conduct,'” Dillon posted to Twitter, attaching a screenshot of communication from the big tech giant explaining that the account had “been locked for violating the Twitter Rules.”
I just received this notice that we’ve been locked out of our account for “hateful conduct.” pic.twitter.com/udMriKcDr6
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 20, 2022
In a subsequent Tweet, Dillon explained that, according to Twitter, the 12-hour lock period won’t begin to expire until the tweet in question has been deleted, something Dillon says isn’t going to happen.
“We’re told our account will be restored in 12 hours, but the countdown won’t begin until we delete the tweet that violates the Twitter Rules,” Dillon posted, attaching a copy of Twitter’s communication explaining that The Babylon Bee’s account has been censored.
“We’re not deleting anything. Truth is not hate speech. If the cost of telling the truth is the loss of our Twitter account, then so be it,” Dillon responded to his Tweet, refusing to grovel to Twitter’s censorship demands.
We're not deleting anything. Truth is not hate speech. If the cost of telling the truth is the loss of our Twitter account, then so be it.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 20, 2022
The Babylon Bee has been a frequent target of big tech censors, with most crediting this to its reputation as a Christian, conservative-oriented satirical news site which also reports truth and helps discredit the liberal elite. Like Twitter’s recent censorship, Facebook has come down particularly hard on The Bee, censoring the website on numerous occasions and claiming that their jokes violate big tech speech policies.
