Babylon Bee Calls On Supreme Court to Uphold Social Media Censorship Ban Laws
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian satire site The Babylon Bee is calling on the Supreme Court to uphold laws that ban social media censorship.
“In an amicus brief filed last week, Babylon Bee and its straight news partner website Not the Bee argued that recently passed laws in Florida and Texas aimed at combating social media censorship of users over political views should be upheld,” the Christian Post reported on Thursday.
Movieguide® previously reported on the site’s struggle with censorship:
The Babylon Bee came under fire from Big Tech and other news outlets for allegedly promoting “misinformation.”
Although Facebook has deleted posts and suspended the site’s accounts on several occasions, the Babylon Bee earned a victory after the New York Times retracted comments with similar accusations. NYT published a correction on a March 19 article after the Babylon Bee threatened a lawsuit against NYT for describing the satire site as a “far-right misinformation site.”
…“The NY Times was using misinformation to smear us as being a source of it,” [said Seth Dillon, the Babylon Bee’s CEO]. “That’s not merely ironic; it’s malicious. We pushed back hard and won. Thanks to everyone who voiced and offered their support. We don’t have to take this nonsense lying down. Remember that.”
The brief says that social media platforms continue to censor ideological content. Specifically, through the blanket labels of “hate” and “misinformation,” religious and conservative messages have been stunted.
The Christian Post said, “The brief further argues that the laws passed in Texas and Florida ‘merely require social media titans to honor the representations they make to the public whose communications they carry.’”
“Finally, these laws advance core First Amendment values by promoting the free exchange of ideas and by protecting religious viewpoints, among others, from censorship. And they restore trust and consumer confidence in social media. The Court should uphold both laws,” the brief said.
Deseret News notes that tech companies have sued to block the Texas and Florida laws, claiming that they conflict with free speech rights.
In light of the news, Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute, an organization dedicated to defending religious liberty, spoke out: “Censorship is no laughing matter. For too long, social media giants have censored conservative and religious speech with which they disagree. These laws are basic consumer-protection regulations that simply hold social media platforms accountable to the image of neutrality that they project, and they are consistent with federal law and the First Amendment.”
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