Twitter locks Babylon Bee for eight months after satirical 'Man of the Year' tweet about Rachel Levine
On March 20, 2022, Twitter locked the account of The Babylon Bee — a Christian satire site with approximately 1.3 million followers — after the site tweeted that Rachel Levine, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health and a transgender woman, was its 'Man of the Year.' Twitter cited its hateful-conduct policy and required deletion of the tweet for account restoration. The Bee refused. The account was restored November 18, 2022 by Elon Musk shortly after his Twitter acquisition; the tweet was not deleted. Musk had publicly cited the Bee's suspension as one motivation for buying the platform.
Dates: Tweet posted March 15, 2022; account locked March 20, 2022; appeal denied late March 2022; restored November 18, 2022. Parties: The Babylon Bee; CEO Seth Dillon; Editor-in-Chief Kyle Mann; Twitter/X; Elon Musk. What happened: Twitter cited its hateful-conduct policy against misgendering transgender individuals and required the Bee to delete the satirical tweet to regain access. The Bee declined, arguing that satire about public officials' titles was protected commentary and that compliance would validate the categorization of satire as hateful conduct. The appeal was denied. The account remained locked for approximately eight months. Twitter's stated reasons: Hateful-conduct policy violation through misgendering. The Bee's response: Refused to delete the tweet; framed the policy as suppression of protected satire of public officials. Outcome: Account restored November 18, 2022 immediately after Musk completed his acquisition. The tweet remained on the account.