Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon slammed the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Tuesday for doxxing several of his website's anonymous writers, in a post that went viral on X.
The Babylon Bee is a Christian conservative-leaning satire site that produces humorous fake news stories. Dillon revealed several of the writers for its non-satirical sister site – called "Not the Bee" because it features real news stories that seem too outlandish to be true – were about to have their identities exposed by the SPLC.
"The discredited, scandal-ridden smear factory known as the SPLC is about to publish a hit piece doxxing several of our ‘Not the Bee’ writers who wished to remain anonymous so they could speak freely, without fear," Dillon announced.
"The SPLC extracted sensitive information from our site, then used that information to contact our writers directly. I’ve included a screenshot of one of these emails below," his post continued.
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The Babylon Bee's sister site, "Not the Bee," features real news stories that seem too outlandish to be true. (Babylon Bee)
The SPLC, a powerful progressive civil rights group that the FBI has cited as a resource and is frequently quoted in the media, has labeled prominent conservative organizations and parental rights groups, such as the Family Research Council (FRC) and Moms for Liberty, as "extremists," alongside groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
The SPLC posted its story on Tuesday about the Babylon Bee, headlined "Inside The Beehive" and part of its "HateWatch" section. It boasted of revealing the identities of 14 of Not The Bee's pseudonymous writers, and it accused The Babylon Bee of "amplifying far-right rhetoric and disinformation," even while noting it was a satire site in the same vein of The Onion.
Not The Bee stories, the SPLC wrote, "feature strongly anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-immigrant themes," which was presumably why the site sought to reveal its content creators.
In the attached email, SPLC investigative journalist Creede Newton alerts "Not the Bee" staff writer, who posts under a pseudonym, that the SPLC has discovered their identity, workplace and city location, as well as other writing this person has done online. The SPLC journalist warned that they plan to publish a story about this writer's online comments on the transgender issue.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a progressive American nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images)
The e-mail shared by Dillon reads, "‘Planet Moron’ has maintained a separate web presence as a blogger for nearly 20 years, but since 2020 has written over 600 articles for Not the Bee. Exposed author information on Not the Bee's source corde [sic] indicates that ‘Planet Moron’ [is] you, [redacted], a [redacted] instructor from [redacted]. 'Planet Moron' is a prolific writer on culture-war issues. One article mocks transgender children as 'mentally ill tween[s]' who are ‘the economic lifeblood of the multi-billion-dollar trans industry.’ Do you wish to comment?"
The article by Newton and Megan Squire went on to detail how it exposed the authors through the site's source code.
Dillon said earlier that the SPLC did what they did because they were activists and "vindictive bullies who've admitted their aim is to 'completely destroy' individuals and organizations they disagree with by making them pay a steep price for speaking freely."
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Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon posted a defiant message to SPLC, upon learning that the left-wing group was ready to "dox" several of "Not the Bee's" staff writers. (Fox News Digital)
Dan Dillon and Adam Ford, the co-founders of Not the Bee, also published statements defending their website and writers, while slamming the SPLC for their attempt to "smear" and "intimidate" their writers.
"They are angry, bitter, resentful hacks that feel like their ability to pummel people into worldview submission is slipping away," Dan Dillon wrote.
Joel Abbott, editor-in-chief of Not the Bee, also wrote, "Not the Bee is a project of love, not of hate," and taunted the group to "dox us if you dare."
The SPLC has come under fire from conservative critics, who've accused the SPLC of smearing non-violent groups who hold traditional beliefs with the "hate group" label.
The group also faced controversy In 2012 when a gunman, who said he was inspired by the SPLC's "hate map," attempted to conduct a mass shooting at the FRC building in Washington, D.C., but was thwarted by a building manager.
Dillon and the SPLC did not immediately return Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
In a statement to another media outlet, the SPLC stated, "The SPLC is committed to transparency and is dedicated to protecting the safety of trans and genderqueer individuals when they are publicly attacked. Hateful content like the material created by Not the Bee writers works to dehumanize transgender individuals, the entire LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities, and people of color. This divisive commentary has no place in our society."
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