Twitter suspended the account of The Babylon Bee last weekend for what it deemed hateful conduct. The action came after the website posted a satirical story jokingly naming Rachel Levine, Health and Human Services assistant secretary, as “Man of the Year.”
Levine, a biological man, is best known for coming out as a transgender female before being appointed by President Joe Biden to the role Recently, Levine was named one of USA Today’s “Women of the Year.”
Twitter flagged the post poking fun at Levine’s transition and name change for violating its rules against “hateful conduct.” The rule states, “You may not promote violence against, threaten or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or serious disease.”
The Babylon Bee doesn’t plan to delete the tweet, CEO Seth Dillon said, according to “The Daily Wire.” “We’re not deleting anything,” he said. “Truth is not hate speech. If the cost of telling the truth is the loss of our Twitter account, then so be it.”
READ: Sen. Josh Hawley voices concerns as Supreme Court confirmation hearings begin
Twitter also flagged against a tweet from Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas, who also referred to Levine as a man. Last week, Paxton posted a screenshot of the USA Today article naming Levine as one of its “Women of the Year” and commented, “Rachel Levine is a man.”
Twitter flagged the tweet as being hateful but allowed it to remain, stating, “This tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible.” Paxton followed Twitter’s flagging by releasing a statement on Big Tech censorship.
“This whole insane episode represents a two-pronged attack from the left — both of which I’m vigorously fighting against,” he said. “First is the left’s war against human biology, and especially against women. Second is their weaponization of big tech against conservative voices.
“But Big Tech is not only anti-conservative and anti-Republican. It is now apparently anti-truth and anti-science. I will continue to use all my power to hold them accountable. Even now, I’m exploring legal options to stop their one-sided censorship.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
