Censorship Update: Elon Musk Has Freed The Bee

Readers of the Bee, 

Eight months ago, USA Today named Rachel Levine — a transgender government official — “woman of the year.” It was pretty funny, if we’re being honest. But it was also a slap in the face to real women everywhere. So we fired back, in defense of women and sanity, with a joke of our own:  

“The Babylon Bee’s Man of the Year Is Rachel Levine” 

Twitter was not amused. They locked our account for hateful conduct. “Delete the joke and admit you engaged in hateful conduct,” they said, “and you can have your account back.” 

We refused. We did not engage in hateful conduct. In fact, we used humor to tell the truth, and the truth is not hate speech. So I sent an email to our readers on March 21 vowing to never delete that tweet, even if it meant the permanent loss of our presence on Twitter. 

Thankfully, we never had to delete anything. 

In late October, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion with a promise to restore balance and humor to the platform. On November 18, he unlocked our account and set us free. Shortly before he did so, he posted one of the most-liked tweets in Twitter history: 

“Comedy is now legal on Twitter.”

The Bee will hit 2 million followers soon. We had 1.5 million when Twitter first locked us up. We now have more followers and reach across all platforms than ever before — not because we acquiesced, but because we stubbornly refused to bend the knee for tyrants. 

This wasn’t just a win for the Bee, though. It was an historic win for speech, humor, and truth. It also goes to show that taking a stand might cost you something, but you never know what will come from it down the road. You never know who you’ll inspire or embolden with your actions, and the ripple effect that will produce. 

We’re grateful to Elon Musk. We wouldn’t have our voice back on Twitter without him. But we’re also grateful to our premium subscribers, who’ve supported us along the way. The only reason we were able to afford to take a bold stand for the truth without concern for how it would impact us financially is because we have an army of loyal supporters in our corner. 

If you’re celebrating this victory with us, please consider becoming a subscriber and joining the fight. Censorship online isn’t going away with Elon’s acquisition of Twitter. As long as we’re speaking truth to culture, the effort to shut us down will continue. But with your support, we’ll never have to back down or bend the knee.

Thank you for your loyal readership and support of the Babylon Bee.

Seth Dillon

CEO | The Babylon Bee

P.S. Never censor yourself, and never apologize for speaking the truth.