Last Updated on January 13, 2020
Conservative satirical website, Babylon Bee, was accused of misleading Americans by a CNN reporter for an article mocking Democrats over the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan drew considerable social media attention over his tweet calling out the Babylon Bee over their immensely popular satirical article which, at the time of the tweets, had garnered over 500,000 Facebook shares.
The satirical piece which grabbed O’Sullivan’s attention was called “Democrats Call For Flags To Be Flown At Half-Mast To Grieve Death Of Soleimani.”
The tweet was inspired by former CIA agent and author Cindy Otis who brought the popular article to the site’s attention.
She wrote: “A post from a satirical website has been shared more than 500,000 times saying the DNC called for the flag to be at half-mast because of Soleimani.
“Some family members just called bc their Republican friends on FB are circulating it like it’s legit. We have a lot of work to do, all.”
A post from a satirical website has been shared more than 500k times saying the DNC called for the flag to be at half-mast because of Soleimani. Some family members just called bc their Republican friends on FB are circulating it like it's legit. We have a lot of work to do, all.
— Cindy Otis (@CindyOtis_) January 5, 2020
O’Sullivan, quote tweeting Otis, started off by remarking: “To put this in perspective, this is the same number of engagements the top NY Times and CNN stories on Facebook had over the past week.
“A lot of people sharing this ‘satirical’ story on Facebook don’t know it is satire.”
To put this in perspective, this is the same number of engagements the top NY Times and CNN stories on Facebook had over the past week.
A lot of people sharing this "satirical" story on Facebook don't know it is satire. https://t.co/HnDjuqw2si
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) January 5, 2020
O’Sullivan goes onto say, “Having a disclaimer buried somewhere on your site that says it’s “satire” seems like a good way to get around a lot of the changes Facebook has made to reduce the spread of clickbait and misinformation.”
Having a disclaimer buried somewhere on your site that says it’s “satire” seems like a good way to get around a lot of the changes Facebook has made to reduce the spread of clickbait and misinformation.
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) January 5, 2020
Otis, in a later tweet on the same thread, referring to the popularity of the satirical article, added: “For those asking, it’s on the Babylon Bee.
“You’ll see it’s also circulating on Twitter. Many accounts sharing it as funny satire, some sharing it because they say it’s satire but still close to the truth, and others that appear to not know at all that it’s satire.”
For those asking, it's on the Babylon Bee.
You'll see it's also circulating on Twitter. Many accounts sharing it as funny satire, some sharing it because they say it's satire but still close to the truth, and others that appear to not know at all that it's satire. pic.twitter.com/9XwR71u1LX
— Cindy Otis (@CindyOtis_) January 5, 2020
O’Sullivan, who, according to his Twitter bio, reports on “disinformation,” politics and technology, and in spite of his stance against Babylon Bee, had shared various articles from The Onion.
Babylon Bee’s founder, Adam Ford, in thread, revealed O’Sullivan’s predilection for articles posted by the rival satirical news site.
https://twitter.com/Adam4d/status/1214231013695664129
According to LifeSiteNews, Ford said, “It’s fascinating to me that Mr. O’Sullivan can’t recognize the doublethink required to publicly accuse the Babylon Bee of insidiousness while at the same time being a vocal fan of the Onion.”
