Facebook (Meta) has banned a key element of its fact checking team
over incorrect information on the "yes" case.
Foreign influence in referendum yes case scandal.
https://www.skynews.com.au/business/media/facebook-suspends-australian-factchecking-operation-amid-foreign-influence-scandal-uncovered-by-fact-check-files/news-story/8df4dc7bcbc4ac5a4b005fc4c72c5b7f
Facebook has suspended an Australian fact checking operation from policing content on its platform after a Sky News Australia investigation uncovered a secret foreign-funded bid to influence the upcoming Voice referendum.The powerful RMIT Factlab operation - which was being paid up to $740,000 a year by Meta - will be banned from judging what is true or false on social media while Meta and the International Fact Checking Network probe its operation.
Sky News Australia’s investigation, dubbed The Fact Check Files, revealed the university’s fact checking director Russell Skelton was campaigning for the Voice and re-sharing slogans and images created by Labor’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney.
Skelton’s team was responsible for several misleading fact checks against Sky News Australia which led to a censorship of journalism related to the Voice referendum.
A Meta spokesman told Sky News Australia that the allegations contained in the Fact Check Files led to a decision to suspend RMIT from its global fact-checking operation.
“The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) requires participating organizations to demonstrate a commitment to nonpartisanship and fairness," Meta said.
"The IFCN will determine whether RMIT FactLab’s expired certification should be reinstated.
