The Babylon Bee, a satirical news site, had its account locked on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) after posting a comic story claiming that Rachel Levine, the transgender Assistant Secretary for Health in the Biden administration, was named its “Man of the Year.”
What Happened: Seth Dillon, CEO of The Babylon Bee, posted a notice on his Twitter page that the social media company suspended his company’s account for violating its rules against “hateful conduct,” which covers harassment against people based on sexual orientation, gender and gender identity.
The allegedly offending tweet linked to a March 15 article on The Babylon Bee website titled “The Babylon Bee's Man Of The Year Is Rachel Levine.” The article referred to Levine with male pronouns and noted “Rachel's original name is Richard Levine, but he changed it to Rachel for some strange reason a few years ago.”
The article also highlighted Levine’s role in the Biden administration, stating that “he serves proudly as the first man in that position to dress like a western cultural stereotype of a woman.” Furthermore, the article noted Levine was an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, adding, “Who says a dude as accomplished as this can't be named ‘Rachel?’”
The Babylon Bee article came two days after USA Today’s March 13 article citing Levine as one of its “Women of the Year.”
Photo: Courtesy of Babylon Bee
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What Happened Next: Dillon also tweeted, "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. 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."
The post that offended Twitter is still online at Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ:FB) Facebook. The Babylon Bee used its Facebook account to state: "On Twitter has ordered us to delete the tweet and acknowledge we've violated the hate speech policy before they will let us back in. We're not gonna do it. It's time to take a stand. This is gonna hurt us, but someone has to fight back against this insanity."
Ahead of the locking of The Babylon Bee account, Dillon took aim on his personal Twitter page at another high-profile transgender individual, NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas.
"If Lia Thomas were actually a woman, then I don't think anyone would be talking about his performance-enhancing testicles," Dillon tweeted.
