OPINION
As I keep warning you: Always assume that “fact-checkers” are trying to bullshit you. This isn’t a paranoid delusion, it’s a fundamental principle of science and logic. Take no-one’s word for it. Least of all mainstream media entities whose clear mission is to reinforce narratives rather than tell the unvarnished truth.
Sometimes, the deceit of “Fact-Checkers” is so blatantly obvious that even Big Tech can’t buy it.
Tech giant Meta has suspended its partnership with RMIT’s fact checking program “effective immediately” after receiving complaints about bias and unfairness relating to the upcoming voice to parliament referendum.
Particularly egregious was RMIT’s FactLab’s — which partners with Australia’s taxpayer-funded broadcaster — lying “fact-check” about the Uluru statement, the foundational document of the “Voice” referendum.
Meta executives have distanced themselves from RMIT’s FactLab after it recently came under fire for slapping a “false information” label on Sky News Australia host Peta Credlin’s reports posted on Facebook that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is not a single-page document but is 26 pages long.
The FactLab’s failure to have a current certification by the International Fact-Checking Network was also blamed for Meta’s decision to cut ties with FactLab.
This also goes to the heart of the credibility — such as it is — of the ABC, which repeatedly publishes the most obvious deceits from FactLab.
The FactLab – which said itself that it works “hand-in-hand” with RMIT ABC Fact Check – claimed this month that Credlin’s reporting and commentary about the Uluru Statement’s length were incorrect, despite Credlin, who is also a columnist at The Australian, receiving a response to a Freedom of Information request from the National Indigenous Australians Agency confirming its length as 26 pages.
Meta’s regional director of policy, Mia Garlick, responded on Tuesday to an inquiry sent by Senator James Paterson that was revealed in The Australian this week, questioning the FactLab’s conduct […]
“In light of these allegations and the upcoming vote on the Voice referendum, we are suspending RMIT as a partner in our fact checking program, effective immediately.”
That’s also the end of a nice little earner for the dodgy “fact-checkers”. As Rukshan Fernando exposed recently, RMIT FactLab was earning tens of thousands of dollars a month under a deal with Facebook.
Those are not the only porkies they’re telling.
Sky News last week revealed the RMIT’s certification with the IFCN expired in December.
Despite this, on Tuesday RMIT FactLab still said on its website that it “works in partnership with Meta as third-party fact-checkers, debunking problematic posts on Facebook and Instagram to help slow the spread of harmful information”.
This all inevitably raises questions about the credibility of the ABC, given the public broadcaster’s incestuous relationship with the discredited “fact-checker”.
RMIT FactLab and ABC FactCheck are both run by director Russell Skelton, an ABC veteran who has reported numerous tweets in favour of the voice referendum.
And, as is so often the way at the ABC collective, Skelton just happens to be married to high-profile ABC figure, Virginia Trioli. Something RMIT suddenly appears to not want to be too widely known.
The ABC was asked to provide an explanation of the difference between the two groups of fact checkers, the RMIT FactLab and RMIT ABC FactCheck but The Australian received no response.
RMIT FactLab has since then completely overhauled its website, removing ties on its homepage to the ABC and also removing the biographies written about its staff members.
The Australian
So much for “just the facts”.