Big update here. The @nytimes has responded to our demand letter by removing defamatory statements about us from their article. Here's their email to our counsel notifying us of the correction.
Originally, the article said we were a far-right misinformation site. It pointed to us—and only us—as an example of a site that misuses the satire label to protect our presence on social media sites that would otherwise ban us for spreading fake stories.
We objected to this pretty strongly, so @MikeIsaac removed the sentence that said we trafficked in misinformation. In its place, he put an update that said we'd feuded with @snopes and @Facebook about whether we're misinformation or satire. But that wasn't true, either.
This latest correction, however, no longer mentions the Bee as an example of a far-right misinformation site that pretends to be doing satire. And it notes that neither Snopes nor Facebook maintain that we're misinformation.
This is huge. The NY Times was using misinformation to smear us as being a source of it. That's not merely ironic; it's malicious. We pushed back hard and won. Thanks to everyone who voiced and offered their support. We don't have to take this nonsense lying down. Remember that.
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Planned Parenthood has finally acknowledged their racist roots, so what do the fact checkers who ran defense for them (and their founder Margaret Sanger) have to say for themselves?
Fact checkers had every opportunity to hold Planned Parenthood accountable. But here's @NPR "debunking" what Planned Parenthood now admits is true: npr.org/sections/itsal…
Here's @snopes trying to create distance between Sanger and the KKK, even as they admit she spoke at a klan rally. They claim she "disparaged" the klan's mission and only spoke to them to reach a wider audience. snopes.com/fact-check/mar…
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." nytimes.com/2021/03/19/tec…
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."
No other examples of far-right misinformation sites are offered. The Babylon Bee is the only one cited in this piece.
So after a manual review, Facebook says they stand by their decision to pull down this article and demonetize our page. I'm not kidding. They say this article "incites violence." It's literally a regurgitated joke from a Monty Python movie! babylonbee.com/news/senator-h…
In what universe does a fictional quote as part of an obvious joke constitute a genuine incitement to violence? How does context not come into play here? They're asking us to edit the article and not speak publicly about internal content reviews. Oops, did I just tweet this?
A Black Lives Matter leader said that if change doesn't happen, they'll "burn down this system." That's allowed on Facebook. You can quote it. You can link to it. But a Monty Python joke about burning a witch at the stake? That's incitement to violence. 🤡 show.
Interesting how they call us a "right-wing satire site." The Onion, however, is just satire to them. And yet they acknowledge right on the heels of that description that we "don't pull any punches . . . everything is fair game: the left, the right, Trump."
They do at least note that we get we more traffic and social engagement than The Onion. Perhaps they should have described The Onion as a left-wing, less popular version of The Babylon Bee. 😂
You guys won't believe how hard I've worked to bring you this new site. For months, I stood behind our team of developers, repeatedly asking them what's taking so long. I don't even like standing. It was terrible.