With the government’s proposed misinformation legislation getting pushback from all directions, Meta’s suspension of RMIT’s Factlab from its outsourced factchecking service provides a useful case study of both why legislation is needed, and what’s wrong with the draft bill.
Meta stated that the suspension of the factchecker on 29 August was due to both the lapse of the factchecker’s accreditation with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and criticisms raised by opponents of the Voice to Parliament. Meta requires its factcheckers to be members of IFCN, which in turn engages independent examiners to assess applicants’ adherence to the IFCN’s code of principles. It’s a thoroughgoing and robust process.
On that basis, the lapse of RMIT Factlab’s IFCN accreditation seems like reasonable grounds for suspension. This couldn’t be said for the concerns Meta expressed about the factchecker’s impartiality. The purpose of requiring IFCN accreditation is to ensure the independence of factcheckers. This includes independence from both platform decision-making and government influence. That Meta’s decision to suspend RMIT Factlab was in part a result of ‘the allegations against RMIT and the upcoming referendum’ should be cause for great concern.
It will be of even greater concern if Meta accedes to senator James Paterson’s request to review all of RMIT FactLab’s factchecks on the Voice. As we argued in our submission on the bill, distributing responsibility and oversight to independent bodies is exactly what is needed to counter potential government overreach and make platforms accountable for their decisions. This includes responding to requests from opposition MPs as much as those from the government or a regulator.
Our newsletter this week kicks off with another worrying bill, as Ayesha looks at dangers for journalism in the government’s proposal to criminalise accessing or possessing violent extremist material. Meanwhile, Sacha finds an uncanny familiarity in the circumstances surrounding Meta’s blocking of news in Canada. Our UTS colleague Wanning Sun talks us through her recent research on the Australian media’s relationship with the Chinese-Australian community, and Monica gives her take on the Walkley walkouts.
Finally, don’t miss the latest episode of our podcast, where Monica talks with the editors of a new book on journalism during the pandemic.
Read the newsletter in full here.
Michael Davis, CMT Research fellow