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Badger's Law
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Badger's Law states that the content of any website which contains the word "truth" in its name or URL contains anything but that. The law states:
“”Websites with the word "Truth" in the URL have none in the posted content.
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In practice, this means that websites with this word in their name and/or URL can be considered webshites. Citing such webshites as a credible source is in turn a violation of Scopie's Law. WorldTruth.TV is a prime example of this.
Origins
The law was named in April 2016 on Facebook by the admin of the page "Genetically Modified Humans for Monsanto"[1] and has since quickly been taken over by other pro-science pages.[2][3]
Extension
Badger's Law also seems to apply in the cases of certain other words:
- Variations and derivations of the word "truth", as in Rick Wiles' TRUNEWS.com.
- "Natural", as in NaturalNews.com
- "Freedom" and "liberty", as in the American Freedom Coalition or Liberty Counsel
Possible exceptions
Note the Badger's Law has exceptions; in particular, it does not apply recursively (for example, "example.com/blog/my-experience-with-foobartruth-dot-org" is probably an acceptable primary source about "foobartruth.org"). It applies less strongly when the URL is in the form of a question ("example.com/blog/is-frank-telling-the-truth-about-his-encounter-with-mr-badger"), as many such cases fall under the scope of Betteridge's law.
See also
Exceptions to the rule
More seriously, there are actually some exceptions to the rule.
- The Truth About Guns (except their pro-gun position).[4]
- Exposing the Truth (in spite of their silly name no different from several conspiracy websites). [5]
- The Elkhart Truth.[6]
- Citizen Truth.[7]
- Truthdig.[8]
- Truth Initiative (U.S. anti-tobacco advocacy charity) (Truth Initiative
)
References
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/GenMods4Monsanto/photos/a.348632358621103.1073741828.348578411959831/628851123932557/
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/therealcrediblehulk/photos/a.892787380752581.1073741828.892778157420170/1162959590402024/
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/You.keep.using/photos/a.421150881298641.102335.415508481862881/1021569427923447/
- ↑ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-truth-about-guns/
- ↑ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/exposing-the-truth/
- ↑ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-elkhart-truth/
- ↑ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/citizen-truth/
- ↑ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/truthdig/