Sky News lawyers are demanding that the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) FactLab pay for lost revenue due to several “fact-checks” on the channel’s online TV content.
The Australian newspaper—owned by Newscorp—the same parent company of Sky News, reported that lawyers wrote a letter to the FactLab also demanding they retract five fact-checks, four of which are related to the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The FactLab was dropped by Meta (Facebook) in August over censorship allegations and an expired International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) accreditation.
The move comes as Australians prepare to go to the polls to vote on a proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
According to The Australian, Sky News lawyers wrote to the fact-checker saying, “Despite FactLab acknowledging it is not certified and its clear acceptance of that fact, demonstrated by the removal of some of the misleading material, the ‘verdicts’ will appear on the FactLab website and therefore are still being used on Facebook.”
They continued to say that Meta only works with IFCN-certified organisations as fact-checkers.
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“Continuing to publish the verdicts, and provide them to Facebook, is clearly misleading when FactLab concedes it does not have the relevant certification required to do so,” the lawyers wrote.
RMIT’s lawyers—according to The Australian—responded, saying, “If, as your client claims, it has suffered quantifiable financial loss, because of Meta’s application of its own terms of use, then your client’s claim is against Meta.”
“These terms include that your client’s content may be subject to whatever programs Meta utilises or applies, such as third party fact-checking programs, or algorithms which either promote or reduce your client’s contents appearance in user’s feeds,” RMIT’s lawyer continued.
Sky News’ lawyers responded again, saying, “In any event, it is RMIT who has breached its agreement with Meta by failing to adhere to the requirements of its third-party fact-checking program.”
Meanwhile, RMIT’s International Fact-Checking Network Director Angie Drobnic Holan was also quoted recently in Crikey saying she expected RMIT’s membership to be renewed noting the group had “good standing.”
In a letter posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), Meta’s Regional Director of Policy Mia Garlick had previously said, “Once the IFCN has considered whether RMIT FactLab’s expired certification should be reinstated, we will again review their participation in our fact-checking program.”
Allegations of Bias
Sky News published an investigation in August that found RMIT allowed Meta to block certain news stories and debate about the referendum, breaking the media giant’s own impartiality and transparency rules.The investigation also says 55 fact-checkers had expired credentials with the IFCN—including RMIT.
RMIT’s ABC Fact Check and FactLab Assistant Director Sushi Das said on the RMIT website, “We have simply established a close working relationship so that we can share information on potentially harmful content that relates specifically to the electoral process as we get closer to The Voice referendum.”
What Does Meta Do to ‘False’ Content?
If a fact-checker identifies a social media post as either “false, altered, or partly false”—it will be moved lower down social media feeds and a label will be applied to the post including more context.If a user continues posting “false or altered” content, Meta says it will “take several actions that will last for a subsequent 90 days.”
“If you continue to post such content, we'll move your posts even lower. Pages, groups, and websites will lose their ability to earn money and advertise, and pages will lose their ability to register as a news page,” said Meta on their online Transparency Centre.
“We also take steps to inform other people about your status, for example, we won’t recommend your page, group, or Instagram account to others and we may display a warning when someone tries to follow your page.”
What Content from Sky News Was Fact-Checked by RMIT?
RMIT alleged Sky News commentator Rowan Dean broadcasted false information about Indigenous Australians already having a Voice to Parliament through the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).“Yes folks, we already have the Voice, in all but name … it’s called the National Indigenous Australians Agency, or the NIAA,” said Mr. Dean on his show in March.
However, RMIT fact-checked Mr. Dean saying they consulted legal and constitutional experts who claim that the Voice to Parliament varies greatly from the NIAA.
The fact-checker cited Professor Asmi Wood and Dr. Dylan Lino of the law school at the Australian National University who both said the NIAA is not independent in the way The Voice would be.
Dr. Lino told RMIT that NIAA employees were accountable to the executive government while the Voice “would sit outside both the executive and Parliament.”
RMIT also accused Sky News of broadcasting false information in a segment about how the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights could lead to a separate Indigenous nation within Australia.
Another fact-checked story was Sky News host Peta Credlin’s reporting on a 26-page Uluru Statement from the Heart, which details potential steps to reconciliation including paying reparations to Indigenous communities.
The RMIT fact-check said the Uluru Statement from the Heart was only one page long, with the additional 25 pages being background information, including minutes of meetings held with Indigenous communities.
However, Liberal Senator James Paterson wrote a letter in August to Meta about the need for an open debate about documents like the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
“Australians’ right to debate the most radical proposed change to our Constitution since federation must not be censored by foreign headquartered platforms,” wrote Mr. Paterson in his letter.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was compiled by 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders after the 2017 National Constitution Convention and recommends an Indigenous Voice to Parliament be introduced—requiring a change to the country’s Constitution.
