Twitter has suspended two media outlets for referring to a transgender Biden administration official as a man.
The Christian Post and Babylon Bee have been suspended by Twitter for pointing out a fact about genders. Both media companies took to Twitter to share a story about how Rachel Levine, a Biden administration official, was named by USA Today as one of their "Women of the Year." But when both outlets referred to Levine as "a man," which he was born as, the accounts were suspended by Twitter for violating their rules on hateful conduct.
According to the Christian Post, the media outlet was notified by Twitter that one tweet they sent out talking about Levine violated its policy against what it deemed as "hateful conduct" after it stated a biological fact that the Biden official was born male and now identifies as female. Twitter has also "temporarily limited some" features of the Christian Post's account, including the ability to share new articles and being able to like, follow, or retweet posts.
On March 15, CP took to Twitter to share an articled titled "USA Today names Rachel Levine among its 'Women of the Year" on its social media accounts, including Twitter. Levine was born male and was named Richard before transitioning and identifying as a woman named Rachel. On Friday, CP received an email from Twitter stating that the account was "flagged for possible violations of Twitter's hateful conduct policy" and possibly violating France's LCEN law on internet content.
"Publishing content that is obviously unlawful under Article 6 of the LCEN law or that amounts to hate speech under the LCEN law can lead to civil and criminal penalties," the emailed notification read. "If you believe the withheld content does not violate the French law, you may challenge the above decision by filing an appeal. You can also challenge this decision in a French court of justice."
CP appealed the suspension of their Twitter account and on Monday morning, Twitter said that the appeal was under review. Restrictions on their account, however, continued until they deleted the tweet that Twitter deemed problematic.
CP was not the only media outlet that Twitter targeted for "hateful" speech, as it also suspended the Christian satirical site The Babylon Bee for posting about Levine as their "Man of the Year." According to Not the Bee, their sister company was suspended for "hate speech" after it called Levine a man.
The Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon took to Twitter to object, arguing, "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."'
On Monday, Dillon shared an update, writing that Twitter ordered them to "delete the violative tweet" before they would be allowed to access their account once again. He argued, "They could, of course, delete the tweet themselves. But they won't. It's not enough for them to just wipe it out. They want us to bend the knee and admit that we engaged in hateful conduct."
