The following is not satire.

Just yesterday our counsel sent a letter to The New York Times demanding a retraction. We did this because their article was—and remains—defamatory. Here's the background:

In a recent article about Facebook's difficulty in dealing with satire, The New York Times pointed to The Babylon Bee as an example of a "far-right misinformation site" that "sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire." They said we dishonestly "claim" to be satire to protect our presence on Facebook and other social media sites.

This is false and defamatory.

In response to us making some noise about their malicious mischaracterization of us, The Times published an update. It reads:

The update is every bit as damaging (and false) as the original. We have not, in fact, feuded with Snopes as to whether we publish satire or misinformation. Snopes retracted that insinuation with an editors' note saying it was never their intent to call our motives into question. It's therefore misleading and malicious to characterize that incident as a feud, as if Snopes ever openly stood by the claim that we are misinformation and not satire.

These mischaracterizations from the Times are nothing new. Previously, Times reporter Kevin Roose wrote a defamatory piece that claimed we "capitalize on confusion" and that we have a "habit of skirting the line between misinformation and satire," whatever that means.

Here's the bottom line: The New York Times is using misinformation to smear us as being a source of misinformation.

For better or worse, the NY Times is considered a "reliable source." We cannot stand idly by as they act with malice to misrepresent us in ways that jeopardize our business.