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Dr. Rachel Levine, the Biden administration’s assistant health secretary, has drawn pushback after advocating for tech platforms to crack down on “misinformation” about sex change procedures.
Dr. Levine was trending Monday on social media after a video surfaced in which the transgender health official called for health workers to pressure tech companies to combat misinformation about “the health equity of sexual and gender minorities.”
“There is substantial misinformation about gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse individuals,” said Dr. Levine in the May 27 video presentation before the Federation of State Medical Boards in New Orleans.
Dr. Levine, the first openly transgender person to win Senate confirmation, cited the “onslaught of anti-LGBTQIA+ actions at the state level across the United States,” calling them “dangerous to the public health.”
“We all need to work together to get our voices out in the front line,” said Dr. Levine, an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
“We need to get our voices in the public eye, and we know how effective our medical community can be talking to communities, whether it’s at town halls, schools, conversations with others, and we need to use our clinicians’ voice to collectively advocate for our tech companies to create a healthier, cleaner information environment,” Dr. Levine said.
Commenters on social media blasted Dr. Levine’s remarks, calling them “a violation of the First Amendment,” “a disgrace and an embarrassment,” and “propaganda.”
Declared the conservative website Twitchy: “Big ‘Brother’ is watching! Rachel Levine wants tech companies to censor gender-related ‘misinfo’.”
“The only misinformation out there is a man can be a woman and a woman can be a man,” tweeted the Ginger Ninja account.
Libs of TikTok tweeted that “Rachel Levine calls for big tech to censor ‘health misinformation’ impacting ‘gender affirming care.’”
Dr. Levine added that the “positive value of gender-affirming care for youth and adults is not in scientific or medical dispute,” while critics argue that minors are too young to undergo potentially life-altering hormone and surgical treatments.
The Independent Women’s Forum and others have publicized cases of young women who regret taking testosterone and having their breasts removed after detransitioning.
Rachel Levine calls for big tech to censor “health misinformation” impacting “gender affirming care.” Says “gender affirming care” has a positive value for youth. pic.twitter.com/XdfyZknbuZ
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 26, 2022
A spate of high-profile Twitter accounts was suspended earlier this year for describing Dr. Levine as a man, including the Babylon Bee, which ran a satirical post naming the Biden administration official its “Man of the Year.”
“You’re not allowed to criticize Rachel Levine on other social media platforms. You will be banned,” conservative pundit Ian Miles Cheong tweeted Monday.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a fan of the Babylon Bee, bought the social media platform in October in a $44 billion deal.
