Facebook has suspended a key factchecker which monitors and debunks online claims after repeated criticisms from Indigenous voice no campaign leaders and some conservative media outlets about the factchecker’s work.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has temporarily suspended RMIT FactLab as one of the partner organisations for its factchecking program, which can slap warning or information labels on dubious content.
A Meta spokesperson said on Tuesday the suspension, which is understood to be temporary, was decided after both criticisms raised by voice opponents but also an apparent lapse in RMIT FactLab accreditation with a global group known as the International Fact-Checking Network. Membership of the network is a requirement to be part of Meta’s factchecking program.
“The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) requires participating organizations to demonstrate a commitment to nonpartisanship and fairness. The IFCN will determine whether RMIT FactLab’s expired certification should be reinstated,” the Meta spokesperson said.
“Considering both the nature of the allegations against RMIT and the upcoming referendum, we have decided to suspend RMIT from our fact-checking program pending the IFCN’s decision.”
RMIT FactLab and the IFCN have been contacted for comment, including on the reasons for RMIT FactLab’s accreditation allegedly having lapsed.
Recent RMIT FactLab factchecks have focused on contested or false claims from key no campaigners or opponents of the voice, including that the Uluru statement from the heart was 26 pages long. This claim was heavily contested and debated last month. Prof Megan Davis, a key architect of the Uluru statement, and Jody Broun, the CEO of the National Indigenous Australians Agency, both firmly stated it was a one-page document.
Liberal senator James Paterson, the opposition spokesperson for cybersecurity, wrote to Meta’s regional policy director, Mia Garlick, last week, raising concerns about RMIT FactLab’s publication on the Uluru statement. He said it should be an issue where people could “reasonably disagree and should not be restricted on your platform”, raising concerns about “a private company interfering with the free speech of Australians”.
Paterson on Tuesday tweeted his letter, and the reply he received from Garlick that day, where the Meta executive confirmed RMIT FactLab’s suspension. She said the reasons included its IFCN status and “complaints made to the IFCN about possible bias or unfairness in some of the fact checks being applied by RMIT with respect to content relating to the upcoming referendum on the voice to parliament”.
Garlick wrote that Meta would review RMIT FactLab’s participation in online factchecking in future, pending an IFCN review.
However, Meta said it still had other factchecking partnerships operating in Australia, which would continue through the referendum period.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to stop the spread of misinformation on our services and continue to partner with AAP and AFP in Australia,” the spokesperson said.
after newsletter promotion
Paterson tweeted: “Australians [sic] right to debate the most radical proposed change to our constitution since federation must not be censored by foreign headquartered platforms.”
In May, RMIT published an article on its website titled: “No, RMIT FactLab is not set to rig the Voice referendum”. It said that its factcheck units do not receive “funding nor editorial direction from political parties, advocacy groups and lobby groups”, and that while the university itself provides funding to the FactLab, “it does not provide any editorial direction”.
Another recent RMIT FactLab publication rebuffed claims the no campaign leader Warren Mundine had previously backed a national voice to parliament and noted that an audio clip circulating online “edits out crucial context” of Mundine’s position.
It also broke the story of the no campaign featuring a quote against the voice from a man who they wrongly attributed as the grandson of Indigenous rights advocate Vincent Lingiari.
Responding to RMIT FactLab’s suspension, Mundine wrote on Facebook: “About bloody time! The bias is unbelievable.”
Mundine has previously accused Meta of “restricting democracy” after several anti-voice ads were restricted.
#Facebook #suspends #RMIT #FactLab #voice #campaigners #criticise #factchecker #Indigenous #voice #parliament
