OPINION:
As free speech and cancellation battles rage, well-known conservative and Christian outlets are being ceaselessly swept into a progressive dustpan in an apparent attempt to totally annihilate them from the social conversation.
These organizations simply aren’t welcome on various platforms unless they decide to kowtow and bow to progressive ideologies, actively concealing, denying or repudiating their sincerely held beliefs.
This has become a particularly diabolical dynamic on Twitter, where conservative and Christian account restrictions seem increasingly rampant.
Amid the dismay and frustration over these purported attempts to compel speech, there’s a telling question that might expose a deeper and more sinister problem: Why won’t Twitter simply delete offending tweets?
Just consider that two of the most well-known media organizations in the faith space — The Christian Post and The Babylon Bee — are among the latest victims of Twitter revocation.
The platform has reportedly shut them out of the service until both agree to remove tweets deemed to violate Twitter’s terms. Nearly a month after these revocations, neither outlet has budged, and, as a result, both reportedly remain locked out.
The Babylon Bee’s ex-communication came after the comedic site allegedly violated Twitter’s “hateful conduct” policies over a tweet about U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, a biological male who identifies as female.
“The Babylon Bee’s Man of the Year Is Rachel Levine,” the tweet read, poking fun at USA Today’s decision to select the assistant health secretary as one of its “Women of the Year.” And The Christian Post was locked after writing, “USA Today names Rachel Levine, a man, among its ‘Women of the Year.’”
Both outlets were reportedly given an ultimatum: either remove the tweets or face losing access to their accounts. One might wonder why Twitter — a platform with all the power in this situation — would wield this strange injunction.
With that in mind, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon told me something last month during an interview that was quite thought-provoking and compelling. He pondered why Twitter itself won’t simply remove the posts — perhaps the most astute question amid the many curiosities and concerns surrounding these free-speech conundrums.
“To require us to go in there and delete the tweet and affirm that we engage in hateful conduct — I mean, how can you expect us to do that?” Mr. Dillon told CBN’s Faithwire. “They’re more than welcome to delete that tweet if they want to. It’s their platform. But why should we have to do it? They just want us to bend the knee.”
Mr. Dillon, it seems, is on to something. If Twitter’s concern is simply keeping its platform clean of ideas with which it disagrees, why not simply remove those messages? Furthermore, why demand compliance to stop account revocation?
After all, Twitter is wielding its power in the first place by limiting these accounts, so why not just delete the tweets, reinstate the accounts, and call it a day?
Curtailing speech is diabolical in its own regard, but the alleged bullying tactics used to get people and institutions to admit to something sinister to regain access simply ups the ante on the 1984-esque rendition of the Upside Down in which we’ve all become entrapped.
Twitter was once an incredible tool for communication and interaction. But the outlet’s hardcore restrictions of late make it impossible to see it any longer as a bastion of free speech.
The point isn’t whether one agrees or disagrees with the Babylon Bee and The Christian Post on gender. The question is: Do people truly value free speech and expression?
And with both slipping away, let’s hope more people on the right and the left speak out to correct these moral wrongs.
• Billy Hallowell is a journalist, commentator and digital TV host who has covered thousands of faith and culture stories. He is the director of content and communications at Pure Flix, and previously served as the senior editor at Faithwire and the former faith and culture editor at TheBlaze.
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