Babylon Bee Suspended on Twitter Over Satirical Article About Rachel Levine Named 'Man of the Year'

© Flickr / Governor Tom WolfPennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine speaking at a virtual press conference on March 20, 2020, about the state's response to the COVID-19 outbreak
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine speaking at a virtual press conference on March 20, 2020, about the state's response to the COVID-19 outbreak - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.03.2022
Subscribe
Last March, Rachel Levine became the first openly transgender person to be approved for a federal position. Prior to that Levine served as Secretary of Health in Pennsylvania between 2017 and 2021. During this time, she oversaw the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Twitter has suspended the account of the news satire website The Babylon Bee over an article about US Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, according to the website's CEO Seth Dillon. He posted a message from the social media platform saying that The Babylon Bee violated Twitter's rules "against hateful conduct".

© PhotoTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.03.2022
Twitter screenshot


Dillon said the account will be restored in 12 hours, but the countdown will begin when the website deletes the article, something the CEO emphasised the website won't do.

© PhotoTwitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.03.2022
Twitter screenshot

"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 wrote.

The Babylon Bee's article about Rachel Levine parodied an article in USA Today that named the official Woman of the Year. "The Babylon Bee's Man Of The Year Is Rachel Levine", read the headline in The Babylon Bee's story.

The article then constantly made fun of Rachel Levine, who transitioned to a woman in 2011 and had a sex reassignment surgery in 2014, being born a man.

"Rachel's original name is Richard Levine, but he changed it to Rachel for some strange reason a few years ago. Who cares? Who says a dude as accomplished as this can't be named 'Rachel?' This king doesn't care what people think about him! He often wears a dress, which some people think is weird — but he doesn't care one bit. Come on! Men in India wear dress-type garments, don't they? Since announcing this award, we've been told that Levine actually identifies as a woman. We have still chosen to give the award as his self-identification has no bearing on the truth. Congratulations, Rachel Levine!", the article read.

CEO Seth Dillon has since signalled that he views Twitter's suspension as censorship. In a statement on social media, he said he received messages from people asking "how they can help". Dillon wrote the following:

"I can think of a few ways: 1. Never censor yourself. Insist that 2 and 2 make 4 even if Twitter tries to compel you to say otherwise. Make them ban tens of millions of us".

From 1947 until 1975 members of the LGBTQ community were banned from working in the federal government. Despite the change, people continued to face discrimination from their employers. Only in 2020 did the US Supreme Court approve a law making it illegal to fire an individual based on their sexual orientation or identity.
Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала