Rachel Levine tweet controversy Explained: Why was The Babylon Bee banned from Twitter?
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Earlier on Wednesday, Twitter suspended the conservative parody site The Babylon Bee for 12 hours after it mocked the transgender government official Rachel Levine with the title “Man of the Year.”
It appears the story was a reaction to USA Today’s selection of Levine as one of its “women of year” last week. Levine is the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health at the DHHS. She was named one of the department’s “women of the year” last week.
In a tweet Monday, March 22, Dillon explained that Twitter had suspended the conservative news portal. It was because for its alleged controversial post. According to Dillon, Twitter would not restore the account unless the post was deleted. He shared the screenshot of the notice within the tweet.
Seth Dillon (@SethDillon), CEO of The Babylon Bee, tweeted on Sunday evening that his account was blocked. “I just received a notice that our account was blocked for ‘hateful conduct.’ “
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
What caused The Babylon Bee to be banned from Twitter?
According to Seth Dillon’s screenshot of the account suspension notice, Twitter banned the news website’s account for “hateful conduct”.
A “hateful conduct” clause includes any attacks or instances of violence against people who are of a specific race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious illness.
Despite the ongoing debate over The Babylon Bee’s post, Twitter has not yet specified what specific part of its “hateful conduct policy” was violated by their tweet. There have been numerous replies since then in support of Seth Dillon’s tweets.
I'm getting tagged by dozens of people saying they're reporting my personal account. Notices like this are starting to stream in.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2022
The Left isn't interested in freedom or debate. They demand ideological conformity. Submit or they'll silence you. pic.twitter.com/BFFkhnT2Hz
The original tweet addressed Dr. Rachel Levine as a man, which contributed to the confusion. This makes it more unclear how the social media giant cited terms of service violations since the term in question is not precisely a slur.
What Babylon Bee said about the controversy
Several people became involved in the controversy after the news portal published an article about Dr. Rachel Levine, who considered herself a woman after becoming a “biological man” in 2011. Rachel Levine is the Babylon Bee’s Man Of The Year, according to a report on March 15.
It was claimed that the pediatrician’s identity has no bearing on the truth if she identifies herself as a woman in the article and is referred to as a man.
It's the word "man" that's problematic, not "male." They allow transgenders like Rachel Levine to be described as physically male. But they won't allow you to conclude that a person's maleness makes them a man. If Rachel self-identifies as a woman, then you must affirm that. https://t.co/zmElBF3F5Z
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2022Advertisement
Misplaced satire
It was more of a case of hate speech than misinformation in this case, but past stories from The Babylon Bee have also been shared, often as fact. It can be challenging to distinguish between real news on social media and misinformation or even outright disinformation, Campbell said.
Campbell said on Monday, “I have even been caught retweeting something I thought was real from The Babylon Bee.”
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
Ankita Khanrah
Ankita Khanrah is a second-year student of the Master of Communication and Journalism (Integrated) programme at the School of Mass Communication, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar.
