In the Direction of Tyranny: Musk Takes Aim at Australian Fact Checkers on Nuclear Claims

A photo taken on Nov. 17, 2023 shows the logo of US online social media and social networking service X (formerly Twitter) on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

Billionaire Elon Musk has said government fact-checkers are a “giant leap in the direction of tyranny.”

His comments come amid ongoing debate around Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith’s being “fact-checked“ on his views about nuclear energy, by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in collaboration with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Mr. Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) weighed in on the subject after U.S. eco-modernist Michael Shellenberger spoke out.

“The Australian government is demanding that X, Facebook, and other social media companies censor content that its fact-checkers say is inaccurate. But now, one of the government’s main fact-checker groups has been caught spreading misinformation about renewables and nuclear,” Mr. Shellenberger said.

In response, Elon Musk posted, “Having government ‘fact-checkers’ is a giant leap in the direction of tyranny.”

The RMIT ABC Fact Check unit determines the “accuracy of claims by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions engaged in the public debate.”

The unit is jointly funded by RMIT University and the ABC, which both receive funding from the government but operate independently.

The fact-checkers disputed a claim by Australia’s Mr. Smith on told 2GB radio where he said the country needed to go “nuclear now” because no country has ever been able to run “entirely on renewables.”

“Look can I tell you, this claim by the CSIRO [research body] that you can run a whole country on solar and wind is simply a lie,” he said.

“No country has ever been able to run entirely on renewables—that’s impossible.”

However, the RMIT ABC Fact Check unit said they had consulted experts who suggested this statement did not hold up.

They said they were supplied with documents from Stanford University Professor Mark  Jacobson that said four countries run 100 percent on wind water and solar energy—developing countries Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, and Paraguay.

“There are four countries running on 100 per cent wind-water-solar (WWS) alone for their grid electricity,” Mr. Jacobson said.

‘Damaging My Credibility’: Dick Smith

In response, Mr. Smith has requested the ABC correct the document and said it “basically makes out I’m a liar.”

“It’s damaging my credibility, and I’ve never had anything like this done to me before,” Mr. Smith told The Australian newspaper.

However, RMIT said it was “committed to upholding the integrity of public information and stands by the accuracy of its work,” according to paper.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan described the situation as another “fact check fail” in a post to X on March 22.

“Well done fact checkers. Once again, whatever you claim usually the opposite is true,” he said.

ABC Apologised

On March 26 evening, ABC apologised to Mr. Smith, explaining in a statement that the first version of the article was “based on the inference that in Mr. Smith’s interview he was only referring to electricity grids.”

“After publication, Mr. Smith clarified that he was referring to the full energy mix,” the broadcaster noted. “The article has been updated to reflect that and to add information on the full energy mixes of four countries whose grids are 100 percent renewable.

“It has also added a statement from the CSIRO responding to Mr Smith’s assertions regarding that organisation.”

The ABC admitted the article had “incorrectly stated that Mr.  Smith had rejected renewable-led electricity generation.”

“This has been amended and the ABC apologises to Mr. Smith for the error.”