Seth Dillon Human Trafficking And Pedophilia Libel

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Seth Dillon Human Trafficking and Pedophilia Libel is the name for an August 2023 X trolling wave that falsely branded Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon as a kidnapper, trafficker and pedophile. The gag started after Dillon mocked a raped 13-year-old Mississippi girl in a quote-tweet, prompting posters to retaliate by pinning fictional crimes on him.

Overview

Seth Dillon Human Trafficking and Pedophilia Libel is the label for a wave of X posts in August 2023 that falsely accused Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon of kidnapping, trafficking, and sex crimes3. The posts were joke-libel, made as retaliation after Dillon mocked a raped 13-year-old Mississippi girl who was denied an abortion1.

The trolling ran on a specific gag: users would tag @SethDillon into news stories about missing children or predator arrests and treat him as the confirmed suspect2. Some accounts built fake Grindr profiles and doctored images to keep the bit going5. Dillon himself reposted the accusations to complain, which only pushed the joke wider1.

How It Spread

The actual libel gag started on August 17, 2023, when X user @ch1w33th3d0g 2 quote-tweeted a New York Post story about a 'Missing 12-year-old girl believed to be staying with much older man' and captioned it 'Open and shut case @FBI the man who has her under his control is @SethDillon.' The post drew around 20,000 likes in a day2.

Dillon reposted the screenshot with the caption 'Is this legal?' and said he was blocked and couldn't report the account, then deleted both messages before August 181. @MattBinder 1 preserved the exchange in another screenshot post. Later that day @JUNlPER 4 posted a trafficker accusation that hit around 15,800 likes, and @websiteidi0t 5 built a fake Dillon Grindr profile that pulled roughly 4,900 likes5.

The bit later moved off X into merch, including a 'Seth Dillon is involved in child trafficking' T-shirt sold through third-party print shops6.

How to Use This Meme

The typical format is a quote-tweet or reply that names Dillon as the suspect in an unrelated crime story. Posters often tag @SethDillon and @FBI, mimic the 'Open and shut case' phrasing of the original @ch1w33th3d0g post2, and attach a screenshot of a real news headline about a missing person, trafficker or predator to sell the joke.

Frequently Asked Questions