Elon Musk contacted The Babylon Bee before making significant Twitter acquisition

The Babylon Bee

2024 Student Journalism Conference

Applications are now open for The Democracy Fund's third annual Student Journalism Conference. This is a one-of-a-kind, all-expenses-paid opportunity for young aspiring journalists in Canada!

TDF Student Journalism Conference 2024

E-transfer (Canada):
[email protected] - password RebelNews if required

Cheques made out to Rebel News:
Rebel News Network Ltd.
PO Box 61056 Eglinton/Dufferin RO
Toronto, ON M6E 5B2

Crypto

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, contacted the satirical website The Babylon Bee, before making a significant acquisition of Twitter.

Musk, who has appeared on The Babylon Bee’s podcast alongside its chief executive and writers, is a fan of the publication and has shared links to the page numerous times.

The Babylon Bee, which is currently suspended from Twitter over an article that jokingly referred to US Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine as “Man of the Year,” hosted Musk at the end of 2021.

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon claims that Musk consulted with The Babylon Bee before purchasing a 9.2% stake in Twitter.

“Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech,” Dillon said on Twitter. “He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.”

Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter's commitment to free speech. He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he's the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.

— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) April 5, 2022

Twitter has refused to revert its decision to lock The Babylon Bee out of its account. According to Dillon, Twitter informed his company that “Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision.”

Dillon stated that the account could be restored 12 hours after the company deleted the tweet linking to the satirical piece on Levine if it chooses to do so. However, The Babylon Bee is sticking to its guns and has thus far refused to abide by the demand.

“We’re not deleting anything. Truth is not hate speech,” he wrote. “If the cost of telling the truth is the loss of our Twitter account, then so be it.”

Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, and now the largest individual external shareholder of the company outside of investment firms like Blackrock and Vanguard, which collectively hold a higher stake in the platform, has promised to “make significant improvements to Twitter.”

In addition to acquiring a stake in the company, the Tesla CEO will also be appointed to Twitter’s board of directors, where he is expected to shake things up.

Last week, Musk began his efforts to shake the tree at Twitter with a poll to his 80 million followers asking if they believed Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principle of free speech, which he called “essential to a functioning democracy.”

“The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,” he wrote.

Over 70% of respondents replied “no,” suggesting that Twitter does not adhere to free speech principles — a fact very much in evidence by the company’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump.