Snopes Fact Checkers Go After Viral ‘Die Hard’ Christmas Meme

It seems as though Snopes just can’t take a joke.

For years now, Snopes and other companies have all claimed to be the definitive “authority” on what’s true and untrue online.  Of course, the logical conclusion is that only one such “fact checking” company should exist, as any plurality of the truth itself cannot exist.  But I digress…

Now, the longtime internet hoax fighters are going after Christmas themed memes, and it has more than a few social media users crying foul.

The meme allegedly being “fact checked” is a satirical post praising “Sgt. Al Powell” for helping to stop a “terrorist attack in Los Angeles at Nakatomi Plaza” on Christmas in 1988.

Al Powell, of course, is not a real person but a character from Die Hard, played by Reginald VelJohnson. Powell assists the film’s protagonist, an off-duty cop played by Bruce Willis, in thwarting the plans of a European terrorist faction to steal $640 million in bearer bonds from an office building at the fictional “Nakatomi Plaza” in L.A.

Snopes “fact checked” the meme in 2018, helpfully informing readers that neither Sgt. Al Powell nor the terrorist attack he supposedly helped prevent are real.

“Was there really a terrorist attack at Nakatomi Plaza over Christmas in 1988? Was Sgt. Powell really responsible for thwarting that attempted act of evil? Well, not really, unless you incorrectly insist that the 1988 action flick Die Hard was a documentary,” wrote Snopes.

Facebook is now using this Snopes fact check to claim that users are posting inaccurate material online.

Facebook and Snopes are fact-checking Die Hard memes ? pic.twitter.com/xPfrPN3iea

— Mike Wacker (@m_wacker) December 25, 2019

Snopes has previously come under scrutiny for fact-checking articles from The Babylon Bee, which is an entirely satirical web site whose articles are overtly and admittedly fictional.