Conservative satire site The Babylon Bee has been “fact-checked” quite a few times now; no, USA Today, a toddler wasn’t kicked off a flight for not saying “Black Lives Matter.” Progressives tried to dunk on Sen. Ted Cruz when he retweeted a Babylon Bee story and added, “I wish this was parody.” The thing is, conservatives get it.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon has had to deal with a lot, and he notes that the source the New York Times used to give an example of right-wing satire tripping up Facebook’s censors was “far-right misinformation site” The Babylon Bee.
In an article about Facebook's difficulty in dealing with satire, the New York Times points to The Babylon Bee as an example of a "far-right misinformation site" that "sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire."https://t.co/YzEuTwlBQT
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
Here's the section of the article where they quote Emerson T. Brooking making this claim. Booking is described as "a resident fellow for the Atlantic Council who studies digital platforms." pic.twitter.com/GsDOayh7uJ
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
“In 2019 and 2020, Facebook often dealt with far-right misinformation sites that used ‘satire’ claims to protect their presence on the platform. For example, The Babylon Bee, a right-leaning site, sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire.”
Under the “guise” of satire?
No other examples of far-right misinformation sites are offered. The Babylon Bee is the only one cited in this piece.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
Notably, the words "trafficked in misinformation" are hyperlinked, presumably a supportive source. But the link they point to is another NY Times piece that actually refutes—rather than supports—the claim being made here by accurately describing us as a legitimate satire site.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
I'm pretty sure there's a legal term for what's happening here.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
Incredibly, the NY Times is publishing deceptive disinformation for the purpose of leading people to falsely believe that we are a source of it. Their dealings with us—and Project Veritas, for example—reveal the truth.https://t.co/75rcXVxfuj
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
Here is the link they attached to the words "trafficked in misinformation." https://t.co/LoDSomczhB
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) March 21, 2021
Damn. That's better satire than what you come with intentionally.
— David Gerstman (@soccerdhg) March 21, 2021
Mike Isaac. Figures.
— I got your #Unity right here (@jtLOL) March 21, 2021
Not really fair of @MikeIsaac to fault Facebook for failing to understand satire when NYtimes itself has such a hard time at it as well.
— Jelte Arntzen (@JelteArntzen) March 21, 2021
I’m pretty sure Facebook’s algorithms understand satire better than the humans working at @nytimes.
— Adrienne (@AdrienneRoyer) March 22, 2021
Even better is the quote from the story linked via the “trafficked in misinformation” text:
“The Bee found itself walking the thin line between satire and fact in 2018, when it joked that CNN purchased an “industrial-sized washing machine for spinning the news.”
— Michael McGuire (@MonocularVision) March 21, 2021
Yes, both Facebook and Snopes “fact-checked” the claim that CNN was using an industrial-sized washing machine for spinning the news.
Really, Facebook?? pic.twitter.com/HEtBc7C0Gz
— Adam Ford (@Adam4d) March 2, 2018
The NY Times is fun at parties
— Doug K. (@osco81x) March 22, 2021
They've created their own reality, one where they can be offended 24/7.
— PixelatedBoot (stamping on a human face – forever) (@PixelatedBoot) March 21, 2021
The idea that you guys have trafficked in misinformation is so utterly baseless. I never knew major media outlets to push this claim about the Onion, though maybe I missed it.
— Wallace Smith (@wgsmith) March 21, 2021
WAIT A SECOND! So Putin did NOT challenge Biden to a stair climbing competition? pic.twitter.com/oq9V6x7xHp
— M. Wagner, Esq. (@The_Law_Suit) March 22, 2021
“…the guise of satire.” There is no irony in an insane asylum.
— Proculus (@17gaul8) March 21, 2021
Actual readers of the Babylon Bee pity the guy dumb enough to put such foolishness in the NYT. Also, the Times calling any other publications a source of misinformation is ripe with irony.
— Stephen Dawson (@jsdi) March 21, 2021
I always think the @nytimes must hire bright people. Then an article like this comes along & I figure they must be pretending to be stupid. But then what’s the purpose of the article? Do they assume New Yorkers reading this are incoherently stupid? (Apologies for the language.)
— Chuck Hinkle (@CLHinkle) March 21, 2021
These publications are so damn butt hurt that you exist.
— Badger In Canada (@badgerincanada1) March 21, 2021
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
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