The Babylon Bee’s Twitter account reinstated by Elon Musk after suspension for transgender joke: 'We're back'
Previous Twitter leadership locked satire site out for joking about transgender Biden official
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Babylon Bee’s Twitter account was reinstated on Friday after it had been suspended on the platform earlier this year, in the latest dramatic move under new owner Elon Musk.
The Bee, which often lampoons progressive figures and culture, had its account suspended under previous Twitter leadership for not removing a tweet about Health and Human Services assistant secretary Dr. Rachel Levine that was deemed "hateful conduct."
The Bee published a joke news entry congratulating the medical official on being awarded its "Man of the Year" award for 2022; Levine identifies as a transgender female.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Babylon Bee had been locked out of its Twitter account since March.
Twitter locked the outlet out of its account for sharing the satirical article stipulating it could regain access to its account if it deleted the tweet.
However, The Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon told Fox News Digital in March that he and his team "don’t have any intentions of deleting tweet," because doing so would be giving into the platform’s attempt to "eradicate objective truth."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In April, Dillon reiterated his commitment to not deleting the tweet, saying, "We're standing firm on saying that we're not going to bend the knee and delete the tweet."
After almost eight months of the outlet being suspended on Twitter, having never given into deleting the offending tweets, The Babylon Bee suddenly reappeared on Twitter Friday.
"We're back. Let that sink in," The Bee wrote, a cheeky reference to Musk hauling a sink into Twitter headquarters after he took over last month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Within minutes of the outlet’s return, Musk tweeted out news of a change in Twitter policy and then announced other prominent accounts being let back onto the platform. He also noted a decision hadn't been made on former President Trump, whose account was permanently suspended shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot last year.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon believes one of the most egregious pieces of mainstream misinformation is calling a fetus a "clump of cells" instead of a person. (getty images)
He wrote, "New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He noted Kathy Griffin and Jordan Peterson had also been reinstated.
Supporters of the Bee were elated to see its account restored. Conservative commentator Elijah Schaffer tweeted, "Comedy is legal again."
GOP digital strategist Alec Sears tweeted, "Let's GOOOOOOO."
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Conservative actor Kevin Sorbo wrote, "It’s about time we had comedy again," and Blaze TV host Chad Prather tweeted, "I’m here for this."
Elon Musk has kept Twitter in the headlines since his dramatic takeover of the social media company last month. (REUTERS/Joe Skipper/Carlos Barria)