Satire News Outlet 'The Babylon Bee' Suspended On Twitter Over A Rachel Levine Joke Labeled Transphobic

Satire news outlet The Babylon Bee was suspended on Twitter over the weekend for a post of theirs that labeled United States admiral Rachel Levine as "Babylon Bee's Man of the Year."

Seth Dillon, the CEO of the conservative satirical news outlet stated in a tweet that he received a notice on Sunday that the account of the company had been locked, attaching a screenshot of the notice, which showed the reasoning as "hateful conduct." The joke aimed at Levine did not threaten her but was seen as harassment based on gender and gender identity, according to the platform, and transphobic by many other users.

Dillon expressed confusion regarding the suspension. Even though it would only last 12 hours, Dillon refused to delete the tweet that would initiate the suspension lift. If the Bee did not delete the tweet, the suspension would not lift.

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. pic.twitter.com/85tdmrqJpU

— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 20, 2022

I've received some messages from people asking how they can help. 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.

— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2022

Levine, who is a transgender woman, one of the first to hold high office in the United States government, isn't a stranger to backlash regarding her gender identity. The Babylon Bee headline is in fact directly inspired by USA Today naming Levine one of its "12 Women of the Year" last week. The Babylon Bee's article was then published later on the same day.

Conservatives on Twitter additionally were outraged by USA Today's decision, however, their accounts weren't suspended like the Bee's was, even though they also levied hate towards Lia Thomas in their comments about Levine.

Transgender Rachel Levine was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year.

Where are the Transgender Women who became Men--are they taking spots meant for men to win? Will they be Man of the Year?

A full ASSAULT on women--it’s the OPPOSITE of women’s lib.https://t.co/eHwWLLnhb0

— LionHearted (@LionHearted76) March 15, 2022

Woman of the Year is a man Best woman’s swimmer is a man pic.twitter.com/OEZRKNu2zn

— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) March 17, 2022

As of today, the Babylon Bee has not been let back into its Twitter account and users on the platform are still reacting. Many on the political right see the ban as unfair. They have continued to express their beliefs regarding free speech, deeming this suspension a violation of that basic right.

Others on the left see the suspension as fair, trying to champion Levine's transition regardless of the outrage relayed from the opposing side. Many saw the joke as "low-hanging fruit," viewing the Bee's efforts at comedy as underwhelming. Overall, the viral discussion is proving to be messy and the Babylon Bee's future on the platform is uncertain if they continue to refuse deletion.

this tweet got @TheBabylonBee suspended. I guess twitter doesn’t want us sharing it. so definitely don’t share it pic.twitter.com/qSAnfLaGKG

— Jessica O’Donnell (@heckyessica) March 21, 2022

Losing my Twitter account out of refusal to delete the worst joke anyone's ever told

— Spurt Magoo (@spurtmagoo) March 21, 2022

BREAKING: Babylon Bee locked out of twitter account before discovering fabled "second conservative joke" https://t.co/KgOhgP12Qe

— The Vaporwave Listener (@5five0oh4four) March 21, 2022

how you know Babylon Bee isn’t funny is that this is clearly the first suspension they’ve ever gotten for hateful conduct https://t.co/qKz4xc7Jhz

— khanate (@polishXcellence) March 21, 2022

So @thebabylonbee has been suspended from Twitter for noting that Rachel Levine is biologically male, using the word "male" to describe the phenomenon of being biologically male, as all humans everywhere have for all time. That is where we are.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 21, 2022