No Joke: Babylon Bee Activates Lawyers After NYT Defamation

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/no-joke-babylon-bee-activates-lawyers-after-nyt-defamation
Published: Jun 3, 2021
Author: Tyler Durden
Post Date: 2021-06-03 18:14:58 by Horse
Views: 1372

Since its inception in March of 2016, the Babylon Bee has made a name for itself as the most hilarious satire website in the known universe - cranking out headlines that would fool only the most abject of morons with no inner monologue, while making the rest of us spit coffee all over our screens.

As the site has risen in popularity (with an estimated 5 million visits per month), liberal 'fact checkers' began smearing the Bee by fact checking obvious satire.

Editor in Chief Kyle Mann responded to one example of this malarkey in an August 2019 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, after 'fact checking' website Snopes (founded by an alleged embezzler who left his wife for an actual whore) 'debunked' an satirical take on a false claim by Georgia state Rep. Erica Thomas, who claimed that a white man in a supermarket told her to "go back to where you came from," only to have a witness later say that never happened.

Here's the Bee's headline:

According to Mann, "Snopes knew this was a joke but questioned our “brand” of satire. The website called us “junk news” and a “ruse.” It accused us of intentionally “muddying the details” of a current event to “fool” people." After some legal pressure, "The scolds at Snopes seemed to comply and removed the worst bits from their piece. But they then rolled out a new rating, “Labeled Satire,” which is meant to suggest that we are somehow making jokes in bad faith."

The left's war on Babylon Bee has continued. In April, Facebook penalized the site for "coordinating harm and promoting crime" after they published a clearly satirical "Guide To Being Prepared For Rioting."

Kyle Mann, boop/bop/beep @The_Kyle_Mann

Facebook is penalizing @TheBabylonBee for "coordinating harm and promoting crime" for our satirical post MAKING FUN OF THOSE WHO RIOT. We appealed the decision but were told it was unlikely we'd receive a response.

And now, the New York Times - which actively reported Russia collusion conspiracy theories for three years - has joined the fray called the Bee a "far-right misinformation site" that "sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire."

Bee owner Seth Dillon responded to the incident in a lengthy Twitter thread that makes clear that for the Bee, defamation is no joking matter (please clap).

Seth Dillon @SethDillon · Yesterday our counsel sent a letter to @nytimes demanding a retraction. We took this action because their article was—and remains—defamatory.

Seth Dillon @SethDillon

I commented on the original version of the article in this thread.

Seth Dillon @SethDillon

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://nytimes.com/2021/03/19/tec

If the Times refuses to correct their reporting, the Babylon Bee and their lawyers may entertain even more us by kicking their ass in court.

Post Comment   Private Reply

#1: Pinguinite    To: Horse (#0)

I'd be interested in seeing The Onion's response to this.

Pinguinite posted on 2021-06-03 18:32:27   Reply   Private Reply


#2: BTP Holdings    To: Horse (#0)

The Secretary where I work tells us we can get free Covid vaccine at the County Health Department. I am not going to get it since I think I might have already had the Covid. ;)

BTP Holdings posted on 2021-06-03 19:57:54   Reply   Private Reply


#3: Lod    To: Horse (#0)

Satire is lost on the stupid, but I have to check the source on many of their stories. Very good at what they do.

Lod posted on 2021-06-03 20:29:35   Reply   Private Reply


#4: NeoconsNailed    To: Horse (#0)

I'm gonna be controversial here and opine that the Bee is at fault for this. Not totally, but significantly. I don'think they know the first rule of satire, which is to be clearly recognizable as such.

The site name is alliterative fun but only once you know it's joking. Babylon is a city of over 200,000 on Long Guyland and Bee is a common newspaper name, so the assumption of comedy at work isn't automatic.

Mad Magazine is satire. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is satire. You can tell it up front with both, and nobody mistakes anything in 'em for anything else. The Onion is often great satire -- but in video, not online. Their site is flawed exactly like the Bee. Ppl just don't know what actual humor is anymore! Hope they win it, tho. The NYT is really acting like a fool.

www.youtube.com/watch? v=c3_95F5e-Ac

NeoconsNailed posted on 2021-06-04 01:16:21   Reply   Private Reply


#5: titorite    To: BTP Holdings (#2)

The Secretary where I work tells us we can get free Covid vaccine at the County Health Department. I am not going to get it since I think I might have already had the Covid. ;)

I goto groups 2 or 3 times a week. Some are confirmed to of tested positive for the covids. Nobody wears masks. Hashtag still not sick.

As for the Bee Article here, I saw them on Project Vertais recently. I kinda thought that was a power move forshawdowing their intent. Its almost like everyone is sick of leftist bullshit.

titorite posted on 2021-06-04 03:56:24   Reply   Private Reply


#6: Lod    To: NeoconsNailed (#4)

the bee cannot make it any more clear that they are:

satire

noun

1. the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

The Babylon Bee is Your Trusted Source For Christian News Satire.

The latest Tweets from The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee). Fake news you can trust.

They even have an app ~ This app was created ex nihilo on the eighth day of the creation week, exactly 6,000 years ago, with the purpose of making The Babylon Bee's divinely inspired content even more accessible.

Lod posted on 2021-06-04 07:55:13   Reply   Private Reply


#7: noone222    To: BTP Holdings (#2)

The Secretary where I work tells us we can get free Covid vaccine at the County Health Department. I am not going to get it since I think I might have already had the Covid. ;)

We that live in the small community just outside of Amarillo, Texas, have never been under the bullshit restrictions foisted upon much of America by the "intellectuals" and Gatesian medical cult. That makes it difficult for us to actually "feel" the imprisonment being forced upon much of our country (cuntry may be more appropriate).

Fuck trying Fauci for being a serial murdering miscreant ... shoot that fucktard !

noone222 posted on 2021-06-04 08:05:45   Reply   Private Reply


#8: BTP Holdings    To: noone222 (#7)

Fuck trying Fauci for being a serial murdering miscreant ... shoot that fucktard !

He needs to be tied to a post and shot at sun up just like traitors of years gone by. ;)

BTP Holdings posted on 2021-06-04 08:16:13   Reply   Private Reply


#9: Esso    To: noone222 (#7)

shoot that fucktard !

Esso posted on 2021-06-04 08:32:15   Reply   Private Reply


#10: Lod    To: noone222, 4um (#7)

I just read that Fauci-Flu should be the new name. Sounds right to me.

Lod posted on 2021-06-04 08:56:08   Reply   Private Reply


#11: noone222    To: Lod (#10)

I just read that Fauci-Flu should be the new name.

You can read ???? (JK)

The govt has tamed down a bit ... the flu ain't so bad; what if you were black and had syphilis ?

noone222 posted on 2021-06-04 09:19:40   Reply   Private Reply


#12: NeoconsNailed    To: Lod (#6)

They don't make it clear enough or so many wouldn't be mistaken.

NeoconsNailed posted on 2021-06-04 10:15:51   Reply   Private Reply


#13: Lod    To: NeoconsNailed (#12)

Unfortunately, there's no cure for stupid.

Lod posted on 2021-06-04 11:11:18   Reply   Private Reply


#14: Dakmar    To: Lod (#13)

If you make something idiot proof they will build a better idiot.

Dakmar posted on 2021-06-04 12:44:44   Reply   Private Reply


#15: Esso    To: Dakmar (#14)

...they will build a better idiot.

Esso posted on 2021-06-04 13:21:14   Reply   Private Reply