Date:
Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:50 EST
ARVADA, Colorado, August 27, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A list that appeared on Buzzfeed detailing "outrageous" incidents recorded at Planned Parenthood facilities by the pro-life group Live Action has now gone viral and infuriated abortion supporters in the process, who are demanding that it be removed from the wildly popular site.
The articled, titled "8 Outrageous Things Planned Parenthood was Caught Doing," was posted on the Buzzfeed Community forum, where anyone can post Buzzfeed-style lists of their own devising, by the pro-life group Personhood USA.
As of this writing it has been viewed over 105,000 times since being put up on August 21, and has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter.
Since Personhood USA began posting their lists on BuzzFeed Community over a week ago, they have accumulated 16 automatically-generated BuzzFeed ‘awards’, including Gold Facebook (over 10,000 views), Gold Twitter (over 10,000 views) and Gold Views (over 100,000), according to the group.
BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith seems to have been caught off guard by both the popularity of the pro-life posting and by the harsh reaction of those opposing the appearance of the list on his website.
Smith told the New York Observer’s Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke that BuzzFeed is ”in the process of figuring out where and whether we should draw lines about what’s appropriate on what we conceived as an open platform.”
Smith added that, “one of the few ways these posts get seen are from stories like the one you wrote. There isn’t a single link on BuzzFeed to this story, but there is one in the New York Observer.“
According to a press release from Personhood USA, the reaction by abortion advocates to the popularity of the posting has prompted BuzzFeed to put up a Personhood USA-specific disclaimer.
"The new disclaimer, which Personhood USA researchers cannot find on any other BuzzFeed posts, states, 'Community posts are made by members of the community, and are not vetted or endorsed by BuzzFeed',” said Josh Craddock of Personhood USA.
Craddock pointed out that BuzzFeed staff have posted several pro-choice articles, including “The Internet Celebrates Texas State Senator Wendy Davis’ Filibuster” and “What the Language in Abortion Law Really Means,” all with no disclaimer.
The "8 Outrageous Things Planned Parenthood was Caught Doing" list includes videos recorded in LiveAction.org sting operations showing PP staff accepting racist donations, telling lies about providing mammograms, giving misinformation about pregnancy, and hiding child rape.
“Instead of outrage at Planned Parenthood, who receives hundreds of millions of our tax dollars, the general outcry has been directed at BuzzFeed and Personhood USA, which is ridiculous,” said Craddock.
“We at Personhood USA are using BuzzFeed to share a message, just like every other BuzzFeed contributor. It seems that many don’t want to believe that Planned Parenthood would be guilty of such outrageous things, but Planned Parenthood’s misdeeds are well-documented.”
Personhood USA currently has seven pro-life posts on BuzzFeed that include “5 Incredible Videos of Life in the Womb” and “5 Bizarre 'Persons' Protected By Law. Their most recent posting is "10 Hollywood Movies That Accidentally Affirm Life."
Link to all the Personhood USA BuzzFeed postings here.