'Shameful' pro-life post forces BuzzFeed to question where to draw the line

Brett T. | 8:42 PM on August 23, 2013

It’s the choice that plagues modern man: BuzzFeed or ignorance?

Really @Buzzfeed? Live Action countdown gets to live as fact on your site? http://t.co/DVKSvBGUFe

— Lizz "Human Capital Stock" Winstead (@lizzwinstead) August 23, 2013

Yes, really. A post entitled “8 Outrageous Things Planned Parenthood Was Caught Doing” is, remarkably, still live on BuzzFeed despite backlash from the pro-abortion crowd.

https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/370989429663354880

Insane, right? There’s an actual, honest-to-goodness, no apologies pro-life post on BuzzFeed. How can this sort of thing happen in America in 2013?

The New York Observer’s Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke decided to check with BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, who assured her that BuzzFeed is “in the process of figuring out where and whether we should draw lines about what’s appropriate on what we conceived as an open platform.” The post slamming Planned Parenthood appears in BuzzFeed’s reader-submitted “Community” section and was the work of community contributor Personhood USA — not BuzzFeed staff, who instead publish strictly objective, fact-checked posts like, “The Internet Celebrates Texas State Senator Wendy Davis’ Filibuster,” “Parody of ‘Blurred Lines’ Stands Up for Women’s Rights in Texas” and “6 Times Wendy Davis Was a ‘Cool Mom’ In Her Vogue Profile.”

Smith noted further, “there isn’t a single link on BuzzFeed to this story.” But still, it exists. It’s on the web right now. What if someone, like, stumbles upon it while checking out the latest cat GIFs and, you know, reads it?