If you head over to fact-checking site Snopes.com right now, you’ll likely get hit with a popup asking for money to assist Snopes in its current legal troubles: “We’d rather be focused exclusively on fact-checking and investigative reporting right now, but a legal battle has forced Snopes to fight for its very survival.”
That legal battle, by the way, has nothing to do with The Babylon Bee and its editor-in-chief Kyle Mann, who retained a law firm to argue that Snopes, which consistently “fact-checks” the satirical Babylon Bee and labels it “fake news,” is smearing the site. But it does look like Snopes would like to avoid another lawsuit.
Now the site has rolled out a new “warning” — Labeled Satire — and Mann is not impressed.
Snopes has rolled out its new satire rating… but it's still pretty bad, insinuating that the content may still fall under some kind of nebulous "satire but not really" category. pic.twitter.com/cettX56eBq
— Kyle Mann (@The_Kyle_Mann) August 12, 2019
What? “Not all content described by its creator and audience as ‘satire’ necessarily constitutes satire.” Dudes, just because you (and Brian Stelter) can’t recognize obvious satire doesn’t mean the rest of us need a warning label.
"This rating does not make a distinction between 'real' satire and content that may not be effectively recognized… as satire." Isn't… isn't that like, your whole job, Snopes?
— Kyle Mann (@The_Kyle_Mann) August 12, 2019
It's like modern Gnosticism, you have to arrive at some high level of spirituality before you truly know what's satire and what's not.
— Kyle Mann (@The_Kyle_Mann) August 12, 2019
It's probably worded to provide legal protection. I imagine they may throw it at fake news websites hiding under the "Satire" label like you and @AXECOP were discussing a few episodes ago.
— Elliot Derhay (@JSn1nj4) August 12, 2019
Either way, "legal protection" is probably the key here. Maybe they're hoping you run out of ammo soon. Lol
— Elliot Derhay (@JSn1nj4) August 12, 2019
"Satire But THAT'S NOT FUNNY"
— Sarah Fleming (@preptodye) August 12, 2019
The Label itself reads like satire! God bless them- you guys have endless material to work with!
— jongouty (@jongouty) August 12, 2019
Here’s an idea; either Snopes just closes down, or it learns to leave clearly labeled satirical sites out of its “fact-checking.” Two Democratic candidates just claimed Michael Brown was murdered — go fact-check that.
Related:
CNN’s Brian Stelter: The Onion is a great parody site, but The Babylon Bee is straight-up fake news https://t.co/joi7hpdreV
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 31, 2019
