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Punching Down: Bad Satire & the Cost to Transgender Folks
Over the weekend, the conservative Christian satire The Babylon Bee found itself amidst controversy when Twitter informed them that their account would be locked for violating community guidelines. The tweet in question was about an article that named U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health and doctor, Admiral Rachel Levine the satire site’s “Man of the Year” for 2022. Dr. Levine, who was also named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year, was targeted for this satire because she is transgender.
Twitter’s guidelines are explicit around hateful speech, stating:
“You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”
The social media platform has been clear since 2018 that targeting transgender people in this way (i.e. misgendering them, deadnaming them, etc.) are considered violations of those guidelines. Twitter informed The Babylon Bee that their account would remain locked until the offending tweet was deleted, after which the account would be restored in 12 hours. Babylon Bee CEO…