{"id":291776,"date":"2021-03-23T13:46:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T17:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=291776"},"modified":"2021-03-23T13:46:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T17:46:43","slug":"babylon-bee-slams-nyt-after-being-called-far-right-misinformation-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/babylon-bee-slams-nyt-after-being-called-far-right-misinformation-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Babylon Bee Slams NYT After Being Called \u2018Far-Right Misinformation Site\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbabylon-bee-slams-nyt-after-being-called-far-right-misinformation-site%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=291776&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-2953.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>On Friday, the New York Times published an article in which they quoted a \u201cresident fellow for the Atlantic Council who studies digital platforms\u201d referring to the conservative satire site Babylon Bee as a \u201cfar-right misinformation site\u201d that \u201csometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Babylon Bee\u2019s CEO, Seth Dillon, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitchy.com\/brettt-3136\/2021\/03\/22\/new-york-times-far-right-misinformation-site-the-babylon-bee-uses-satire-claim-to-protect-its-presence-on-facebook\/\">responded to the charge<\/a> on Sunday with a Twitter thread in which he wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"9\">\n<p><em>In an article about Facebook\u2019s difficulty in dealing with satire, the New York Times points to The Babylon Bee as an example of a \u201cfar-right misinformation site\u201d that \u201csometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire.\u201d Here\u2019s the section of the article where they quote Emerson T. Brooking making this claim. Booking is described as a \u201cresident fellow for the Atlantic Council who studies digital platforms.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.4615384615385\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here&#8217;s the section of the article where they quote Emerson T. Brooking making this claim. Booking is described as &#8220;a resident fellow for the Atlantic Council who studies digital platforms.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GsDOayh7uJ\">pic.twitter.com\/GsDOayh7uJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SethDillon\/status\/1373679397727838211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Dillon continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"10\">\n<p><em>No other examples of far-right misinformation sites are offered. The Babylon Bee is the only one cited in this piece. Notably, the words \u201ctrafficked in misinformation\u201d are hyperlinked, presumably a supportive source. But the link they point to is another NY Times piece that actually refutes\u2014rather than supports\u2014the claim being made here by accurately describing us as a legitimate satire site.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"11.483076923077\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Notably, the words &#8220;trafficked in misinformation&#8221; are hyperlinked, presumably a supportive source. But the link they point to is another NY Times piece that actually refutes\u2014rather than supports\u2014the claim being made here by accurately describing us as a legitimate satire site.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SethDillon\/status\/1373680258554150916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Dillon concluded, \u2018I\u2019m pretty sure there\u2019s a legal term for what\u2019s happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.9532710280374\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#8217;m pretty sure there&#8217;s a legal term for what&#8217;s happening here.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SethDillon\/status\/1373680668509663234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On Monday, The Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/03\/19\/technology\/political-cartoonists-facebook-satire-irony.html?\">issued an update<\/a>, writing:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"11.339066339066\">\n<p><em>But satire kept popping up as a blind spot. In 2019 and 2020, Facebook often dealt with far-right misinformation sites that used \u201csatire\u201d claims to protect their presence on the platform, Mr. Brooking said. [Updated March 22, 2021:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/10\/16\/technology\/babylon-bee.html\">The Babylon Bee<\/a>, a right-leaning satirical site,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/georgia-lawmaker-go-back-claim\/\">has feuded<\/a>&nbsp;with Facebook and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2019\/08\/16\/readers-think-satire-is-real\/\">fact-checking site Snopes&nbsp;<\/a>over whether the site published misinformation or satire.]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In July 2019, the Bee issued an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/babylonbee\/reparations-for-everyone-83635\">announcement<\/a> to its readers saying that its lawyers were looking into the self-described \u201cfact-checking\u201d the site Snopes had conducted targeting the Bee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast week, Snopes fact-checked us again,\u201d the Bee told its readers. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty used to that. But this time, instead of merely rating the article \u2018false,\u2019 they questioned whether our work qualifies as satire, and even went so far as to suggest that we were deliberately deceiving our readers. Basically, they treated us as a source of intentionally misleading fake news, rather than as the legitimate, well-known satire publication that we are. This is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The announcement continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"25\">\n<p><em>As you know, fake news\u2014which is distinguished from satire by its intent to mislead\u2014was widely considered a serious issue in the last election cycle. As a result, social media networks like Facebook began partnering with fact-checkers to try and limit the distribution of fake news on their platforms. Snopes was one of them. At one point, a piece of ours was rated \u201cfalse\u201d by Snopes, prompting Facebook to threaten us with limitations and demonetization. We made a stink about this, and after some media attention shed light on the problem, Facebook apologized for their handling of the matter and admitted that satire is not the same as fake news.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We came out on top last time, but this latest smear from Snopes is both dishonest and disconcerting. We have no choice but to take it very seriously. For better or worse, the media, the public, and social networks all look to Snopes for authoritative answers. By lumping us in with fake news and questioning whether we really qualify as satire, Snopes appears to be actively engaged in an effort to discredit and deplatform us. While we wish it wasn\u2019t necessary, we have retained a law firm to represent us in this matter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/fact-check-snopes-biased-read-fact-check-erica-james-barrett\">The Daily Wire<\/a>&nbsp;pointed out: \u201cSnopes\u2019 \u2018fact check\u2019 of the Bee\u2019s satirical post on the Erica Thomas \u2018hate crime\u2019 allegation framed the Bee\u2019s posts as deliberate \u2018ruses,\u2019 accusing them of \u2018fool[ing]\u2019 readers, and questioning if their work should qualify as \u2018satire.\u2019 (Snopes also left out many publicly available facts about the Thomas case that undermined the Democrat\u2019s claims.) A few excerpts from Snopes\u2019 \u2018fact check\u2019 smearing the Bee \u2014 passages that have since been edited out\u201d:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"15\">\n<p><em>We\u2019re not sure if fanning the flames of controversy and muddying the details of a news story classify an article as \u201csatire.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>While this real-world incident stirred up a good amount of online anger, it wasn\u2019t quite outrageous enough for the entertainment website Babylon Bee. In an apparent attempt to maximize the online indignation, this website published a fictionalized version of the story, changing the location to Chick-fil-A, a fast-food restaurant known for its CEO\u2019s opposition to same-sex marriage [\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/babylon-bee-gets-lawyers-involved-after-snopes-james-barrett\">The Daily Wire<\/a> noted:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"11.742857142857\">\n<p><em>After coming under fire, Snopes edited out the most egregious language in its \u201cfact-check\u201d and added an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/georgia-lawmaker-go-back-claim\/\">editor\u2019s note<\/a>, which puts the blame on readers having supposedly \u201cinterpreted\u201d their wording incorrectly: \u201cEditors\u2019 Note: Some readers interpreted wording in a previous version of this fact check as imputing deceptive intent on the part of Babylon Bee in its original satirical piece about Georgia state Rep. Erica Thomas, and that was not the editors\u2019 aim. To address any confusion, we have revised some of the wording mostly for tone and clarity. We are in the process of pioneering industry standards for how the fact-checking industry should best address humor and satire.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, the New York Times published an article in which they quoted a \u201cresident fellow for the Atlantic Council who studies digital platforms\u201d referring to the conservative satire site &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311001,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-2953.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Babylon Bee Slams NYT After Being Called \u2018Far-Right Misinformation Site\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-2953.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Babylon Bee Slams NYT After Being Called \u2018Far-Right Misinformation Site\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}