The fraud of fact-checkers is clearly on full display as SNOPES does not use facts to alter a narrative.
There is a possibility that you have seen a meme about a book list shared on social media in the last few days. The meme aims to list titles that are banned in Florida. It is an unattributed, lengthy list that doesn’t have any source from an official outlet.
It is completely false to suggest that Florida’s state or the FLDOE has banned books. This is due to the many months of controversy around Ron DeSantis and various classroom standards. Certain titles that are restricted to younger readers are the closest thing you’ll find to a book ban. This is not a ban, but a restriction on the purchase of tickets for children under 18 is an indication that a movie is being censored.
This list was nevertheless shared, with verified accounts. Randi Weingarten, the leader of the US teachers union, shared this list despite its lackluster credence. Randi Weingarten, a woman who should be able to speak with authority on such matters, was content to regurgitate random memes from the internet.
I should have double checked before I retweeted this list. My bad. Looks like some of the books weren’t banned. Book bans are very real & dangerous. For an accurate list go to red, wine & blue https://t.co/ohR4ntMYZW & pen america https://t.co/r5AZbNgoTQ pic.twitter.com/AU3F5E9BaP
— Randi Weingarten ☮️🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@rweingarten) August 22, 2022
Actor Mark Hamill added to the deceit. His post was shared thousands of times, despite not being an authoritative voice. Twitter has yet to attach its flag for misleading information. This is exactly the kind of information one would expect fact-checkers will be looking at. Our democracy would be at risk if there is a lot of disinformation, especially if it is of a political nature.
The fact-checkers face a problem. The left is behind this false narrative. The profile of the nefarious right-leaning figures who seek to destroy the foundations and undermine this country’s foundations by providing misleading false information is not complete with a union rep or a Hollywood actor. How can this be done without compromising the character of these figures?
Solution: It was all a joke!
SNOPES made the statement that this was satire and that it was wrongly accepted as a realistic portrayal of Florida’s school mandates. This summation is weak and pathetic. Bryan Griffin, Governor Ron DeSantis’ Press Secretary, noted that there is no book ban in the state, and some titles on the featured lists are recommended by the FLDOE.
Griffin stated that the image was fake and that it is a list of people who may be living in an alternate reality. “Some of these books are specifically mentioned by Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking. (B.E.S.T.). Standards.”
There is also the SNOPES grade that the list “originated as satire.” This is patently false. Freesias Patriot was the source of the list. This source initially defended the list as factual after it was distributed on platforms. They claimed that the list was provided to them by a source, but they were protecting their source.
This is laughable garbage.
The originator of the list first defended it. A fact check should look for actual bans. Some books have restrictions for age appropriateness.
This is the account defending the list before getting pushback. Now @Snopes wants to reclassify it as “satire”. https://t.co/WIFuuwHLI0 pic.twitter.com/5IAMDPp1ou— Brad Slager: Raid Veteran/CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 24, 2022
It wasn’t until later, when officials challenged the claim, that the shift was suddenly made to claim this was only satire. Since it is claimed that this was intended only as satire, there is no need to defend or correct the facts. SNOPES is happy to play along. The account even changed its bio to claim they were a satire website.
The original source @CGSDemocracy even altered their bio, in order to perpetuate the “satire” ruse, once the blowback became so big.
The whole thing is a sham. https://t.co/zlqXc3Yr6p pic.twitter.com/B5fBGSMO8k— Brad Slager: Raid Veteran/CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 24, 2022
This is not the problem with the Freesias Patriot bank account. They can publish whatever they want. Weingarten is one example of a prominent account that makes false claims without any introspection. This forces you to seriously question the leadership of Weingarten. The whole enterprise is exposed when SNOPES offers to clean up after her and other employees.
How can a fact-checking organization claim the origin of this list if it is unwilling to investigate it until embarrassment was experienced by those mentioned accounts? SNOPES claims that the post was shared but was later removed from its satirical markings. The initial defense of the list by the account was a challenge to the governor’s office.
There is also the issue of the “satire” gag. This is the fact-checking website that was willing to evaluate the actual satire on Babylon Bee. It ignored that basis and rated humor sites as FALSE. Arguments were that gag entries were intended to deceive or that jokes were accurate enough to warrant the False label.
Now, SNOPES will dismiss the case of intentional deception as a joke, even though it has deceived many people. This fact-check is rated as GARBAGE.
