Facebook has dismissed RMIT University in Melbourne as a fact-checker after complaints about how they handled Indigenous Voice material to parliament.
It comes after the FactLab labeled a post from Sky News Australia presenter Peta Credlin as ‘false information’, sparking allegations of bias from politicians and ABC’s Media Watch who said it had crossed the line.
On Tuesday, Facebook responded through its regional policy director, Mia Garlick, to an investigation by Senator James Paterson into FactLab’s conduct.
“We are suspending RMIT as a partner in our fact-checking program with immediate effect,” she said.
Facebook has removed Melbourne’s RMIT University as a fact-checker after complaints about how it handled material related to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament by Sky News presenter Peta Credlin (pictured)
She also pointed out that the lack of current certification of FactLab by the International Fact-Checking Network played a role in the decision.
“A private company interfering with Australians’ freedom of expression is cause for concern under any circumstances,” Paterson said.
“But the decision by a foreign-headquartered social media platform to enter the legitimate public debate during a referendum to amend the Australian constitution is particularly egregious.”
The post flagged as false by FactLab included Credlin’s claim that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a 26-page document, not just one page.
“The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a one-page document, as attested by its authors,” the fact-check reads.
“Paper released under FOI includes the statement, but also includes 25 pages of minutes of meetings held with Indigenous communities, which are not part of the Uluru statement of heart.”
Sky News reporter Jack Houghton accused the company of allowing RMIT to block journalism “despite the platform knowing this was against rules set by Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg to distance itself from responsibilities for checking facts’.
“An audit of RMIT Voice fact-checks found that the 17 Voice checks between May 3 and June 23 this year all focused on anti-Voice opinions or views,” he said.
Houghton claimed that RMIT FactLab boss Russell Skelton was “unashamedly partisan on social media and has published dozens of tweets criticizing conservative views.”
Mr Skelton’s timeline on X, formerly known as Twitter, includes several posts supporting the Voice, including one on April 21 highlighting an ABC article quoting the Solicitor General saying this is an ‘improvement’ of the constitution would be.
On April 6, Mr Skelton posted an SBS article entitled ‘Noel Pearson targets Peter Dutton’s opposition to Labour’s Voice proposal’.
On April 11, Skelton posted tweets from Labor MPs Kate Charney and Bridget Archer, both praising Liberal MP Juilan Leesor for resigning from the shadow cabinet for supporting the Voice.
Mr. Skelton is married to high-profile presenter Virginia Trioli, ABC Melbourne radio morning presenter, who was once in charge of the national broadcaster’s own fact-checking.
ABC show MediaWatch admitted Facebook may have gone too far in its criticism of its claim that the document was longer than the oft-touted single page.
“Given that Credlin is saying something, we think a ‘controversial’ label would be more appropriate,” Barry said on Monday night’s Media Watch episode.
However, Barry did not fully support Credlin’s claim that the Uluru statement was 26 pages long rather than the one page being 440 words.
Despite calling the claim “contested,” Barry essentially agreed with the fact-check.
“The Uluru statement is on one page, but there are many more pages of notes and background information, which the Australian public does not vote on when issues such as a treaty and reparations are discussed,” he said.
The full documentation of the Uluru statement, released under Freedom of Information (FOI) by the Prime Minister’s advisory body, the National Indigenous Australians Agency, runs to 126 pages.
It records the meetings leading up to the 2017 First Nations National Constitutional Convention, but the final section, titled Document 14, lays out the Uluru Declaration from the heart.
It then continues with 25 pages describing historical and contemporary injustices against the Indigenous people, and lays out a ‘road map’ on how to make this right.
This section outlines the purpose of the Voice and of other bodies that could be established, such as a potential ‘truth commission’.
Facebook (app pictured on a mobile phone) has acted on complaints about its fact-checkers
It also calls for the establishment of a Makarrata (Treaty) Commission to oversee a national treaty between the Voice to Parliament and Parliament itself, followed by regional treaties between First Nation groups and governments.
“Every vote to Parliament must be designed to support and promote a treaty-making process,” the full document read.
Authors of the Uluru statement, including Noel Pearson, Pat Anderson and Megan Davis, have rejected claims that it consists of more than the one-page document.
This is despite Professor Davis saying on two previous occasions that the full statement was ‘prolonged…about 18 to 20 pages’.