Meta Vows to Deal With ‘Hate Speech’ in Upcoming Vote on Changing Australia’s Constitution

A 3D-printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta and Facebook logo are placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration, taken on Nov. 2, 2021. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (formerly Facebook) will provide a “one-off funding boost” to third-party fact-checkers in the lead-up to a national referendum on whether to change the Australian Constitution.

The tech giant will work with RMIT CrossCheck to monitor “misinformation trends” leading up to the contentious Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposal, and will share guidance on “combating false information” with journalists.

At the same time, UNICEF will receive free credit to run advertising on “authoritative information” about the debate.

“Meta has been preparing for this year’s Voice to Parliament referendum for a long time, leaning into expertise from previous elections. We will be using a comprehensive strategy to combat misinformation, voter interference, and other forms of abuse on our platforms,” said Mia Garlick, director of Public Policy for Meta Australia.

“When [the fact-checkers] rate something as false, we significantly reduce its distribution so fewer people see it. We also notify people who try to share something rated as false and add a warning label with a link to a debunking article,” Ms. Garlick wrote on the Meta Australia blog.

Meta will also launch a media literacy program with the Australian Associated Press newswire service, building on previous experience with the federal election in 2022.

Later this year, Australians will go to the polls to vote in a national referendum that will decide whether to change the preamble of the Constitution to recognise Indigenous peoples, and embed a near-permanent advisory body in Parliament.

This body would have the power to make “representations” to the executive and legislative arms of government on all matters deemed relevant to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

Advocates see The Voice as the latest advancement in reconciliation and dealing with chronic issues in Indigenous communities, such as unemployment, domestic violence, alcoholism, youth crime, and welfare dependency.

‘Amplify’ Voices in Support of Changing the Constitution

During campaigning for the referendum, Meta says it will work with the online support service ReachOut to provide mental health support to Aboriginal and Torres Islanders, as well as provide safety training on how to use Facebook’s moderating tools to MPs and advocacy groups.

UNICEF Australia will also receive ad credits to promote their “Voice-related media literacy” program and support young Australians “in support of The Voice.”

In response, Katie Maskiell, head of child rights policy at UNICEF, said accurate information was critical in the debate over The Voice.

“Meta’s lead in helping trusted sources like UNICEF Australia share information for voters, and the perspectives of our younger generations on this issue is a meaningful use of social media and valuable contribution during the debate,” she said in a statement.

“We recognise that hate speech can be offensive, even when implicit or veiled,” said Meta’s Ms. Garlick. “If hate speech is being used to attack, we remove it ... We have dedicated teams in place to review and remove this content from our platforms.”

Governments Pressuring Big Tech on Misinformation

Meta has faced pressure over how it monitors and controls content on its platform.

In the United States, the Biden administration currently faces a lawsuit alleging collusion with Big Tech over the censorship of alleged misinformation.

The states of Missouri and Louisiana claim that 67 members of the administration urged Meta, Twitter, and Google to suppress unfavourable viewpoints and user content on the COVID-19 issue.

In Australia, regulators are also taking action to pressure social media companies to do more on hateful content or “disinformation.”

In late June, the owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, was issued with a legal notice to explain what he was doing to deal with “hate speech” or face fines of $700,000 per day.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she had received “more complaints about online hate on Twitter in the past 12 months” than any other platform and alleged an “increasing number” of reports of serious online abuse since Musk took over in October 2022.

Meanwhile, government ministers have adopted strong rhetoric in describing opponents of The Voice to Parliament.

“The ‘No’ campaign is being run by the group called Fair Australia. It is importing Trump-style politics to Australia,” Indigenous Minister Linda Burney told the National Press Club on July 5. “It is post-truth. And its aim is to polarise.”