MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Why was Babylon Bee's account suspended on Twitter, was it really an honest mistake or conservative censorship?

The satirical account was briefly suspended by Twitter before being restored as the site flagged the publication as 'spam by mistake'

On August 17, Twitter was abuzz because it had suspended the account of The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee). Their Twitter bio reads: "Fake news you can trust." As Mediaite.com reports, the satirical account was suspended briefly before being restored. According to the website, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon shared a message from Twitter that read: "We’re writing to let you know that we’ve unsuspended your account."

The message further stated that the social media platform’s system for finding and removing "multiple automated spam accounts in bulk" flagged the publication as "spam by mistake". The Babylon Bee also announced it on their account: "We are back. Twitter destroyed our headquarters with a drone strike, but we are being assured it was an honest mistake." They have almost 600K followers.

The suspension was a topic of discussion on Twitter because the reason for the same wasn’t known. Mediaite.com stated that is also not clear if Babylon Bee's stories promoted the suspension. The report states that some of the site’s stories on August 17 included a headline suggesting Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris had proposed a plan for "everybody" to get a "free 10’x10′ room and three meals a day" — indicating a prison cell — and that President Donald Trump had put himself "on all postage stamps, forcing Democrats to push for abolishing" the United States Postal Service. According to the report, this satire website is often fact-checked by websites including Snopes, in order to help readers who might assume it to be real news.

But its suspension had Twitterati discussing about it as well. One mocked, "Just saw this about The Babylon Bee... I am absolutely rolling over the definition of 'platform manipulation' right now."

Another opined, "The Babylon Bee’s account being temporarily suspended is proof that Twitter is not a platform, but a publisher whose protections must be removed."

Entrepreneur Michelle Malkin said, "First they came for Loomer and Gavin and Alex Jones and Milo. Last week it was @TitaniaMcGrath. Now it's @thebabylonbee. Political dissent not allowed. Politically incorrect parody not allowed. China's got nothing on Silicon Valley censorship and SJW social credit system.

One suggested, "Apparently, Twitter doesn't understand satire. They have band the Babylon Bee for saying funny things. This would be a great time to head over to Parler or go directly to the Babylon Bee web site (sic)."

Another was happy that the account was restored, "Babylon Bee is back, after being suspended by Twitter. Check them out - they are like the Onion, but the jokes are from a conservative perspective. Very funny no matter what your politics!"

Hillreporter.com reported that the micro-blogging site which had announced that it will take action against accounts sharing misleading information or spreading propaganda taking its job seriously. According to the report, last month, the platform had announced that it would take strict action against accounts pushing the controversial QAnon conspiracy theory.

On August 17, according to the report, Twitter suspended several Conservative satire accounts including The Babylon Bee. The other suspended accounts include Titania McGrath, Liberal Larry and Jarvis DuPont, according to the report.

This also got reactions from various Twitter users. Actor James Woods wrote: "Oh, c’mon, @jack, the @TitaniaMcGrath account is pure satire. Get the soy out of your veins. We’ll be happy to pay for transfusions of real blood. How can you be so fearful of satire so gentle? Come out of the basement, buddy. Honestly the sky really isn’t falling."

An user wrote: "Now @JarvisDupont has been suspended. Twitter is purging satirical accounts that mock identity politics. Those in power can never tolerate being ridiculed."

Another wrote: "When Twitter suspends parody accounts like The Babylon Bee and Liberal Larry you know it’s extreme censorship."

The report further states that these accounts are still active on the lesser-popular social media platform Parler. The platform has about 2.8M users as compared to Twitter’s 300M and Facebook’s 2.6B active users, according to the report. According to the report, Parler has much more relaxed terms and conditions.