New law: satire to require explicit labelling

On Tuesday Allie Beth Stuckey’s satirical interview of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on CRTV went viral and attracted heavy criticism from the press.  The Washington Post, Independent, Buzz Feed and other media outlets expressed outrage over this “hoax”, “fake video” and “doctored PBS interview”.

Even Ms. Ocasio-Cortez failed to realize it was satire, tweeting: “Republicans are so scared of me that they’re faking videos and presenting them as real on Facebook because they can’t deal with reality anymore.”

This is not the first time that satire has been mistaken for fake news.  In March, Snopes felt it was important to point out that the Babylon Bee’s article on CNN purchasing an industrial-sized washing machine was just not true.

One senator who is pushing for this new law stated, “Given the prevalence of fake news and the falling standards in education it is important that people clearly know what is satire.”

The new law will require all satirical videos to display a winking emoji icon in the bottom right corner measuring at least 10% of the video’s dimensions. Comedians performing satire will have to hold a government approved winking emoji placard.

However, some critics state that this law does not go far enough, “People could just add an emoji to anything fake and avoid prosecution.  What is needed is a licensing system for satire.  Then we can ensure that comedians and their material are properly regulated.”

Reporter: John Spencer aka Not the Bible