‘Frankly ridiculous’: Sky News blasts YouTube ban at media diversity inquiry

Sky News has hit out at YouTube for removing its videos from the platform and suspending it for a week, saying the reason was ‘frankly ridiculous’.

Sky News CEO Paul Whittaker has blasted YouTube in his opening statement to the Senate Inquiry Into Media Diversity, rejecting suggestions the network ever denied the existence of Covid-19 and accusing the social media platform of censoring “certain views”.

In a strongly worded six-minute statement, Mr Whittaker said YouTube’s assertion Sky had peddled Covid-denialist theories was “frankly ridiculous,” as the network had provided 24/7 coronavirus coverage since March 2020, covering “all angles of this evolving national and global public health and policy debate”.

Last month, YouTube took the unprecedented step of removing 23 Sky News videos from the platform and suspending the network for a week.

Sky News Australia has nearly two million subscribers to its YouTube channel and has uploaded in excess of 50,000 pieces of content.

“Sky News Australia strongly supports vaccination. Any claims to the contrary are false and a blatant attempt to discredit and harm our news service,” Mr Whittaker said.

All the network’s hosts “continue to speak strongly in support of vaccination as the only way forward for the nation,” he added.

But YouTube’s own editorial policies regarding Covid-19 were inconsistent and impossible to apply, Mr Whittaker said, as they mandated adherence to ever-shifting World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, and these guidelines were sometimes at odds with health advice from government.

Sky News CEO Paul Whittaker has blasted YouTube in his opening statement.

“YouTube’s actions make clear that it is not a neutral platform, but a publisher selectively broadcasting content and censoring certain views, while allowing videos that are patently false, misogynistic, and racist to proliferate,” Mr Whittaker said.

Pointing out the difficulty of complying with YouTube’s editorial policies on Covid-19, Mr Whittaker said Queensland chief health officer Jeanette Young’s advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine conflicted with official WHO guidelines. But it was a legitimate view to cover, he said.

“We’ve covered every angle of this crisis, mostly live,” he said.

Debates on Sky about the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 treatment reflected ongoing discussions by experts worldwide, and were in the public interest, he said.

While the Sky News videos were removed, videos on drug taking, gang violence and “crackpot conspiracy theories” were all widely available on YouTube, he added.

The Sky News CEO also blasted the platform for editorial policies that lacked transparency and not giving operators the opportunity to remove offending content before a suspension order.

With no assurance from YouTube that video take-downs or suspensions would not occur in future, Sky had removed a number of its own clips in an attempt to navigate YouTube’s “opaque policies,” Mr Whittaker said.

New terms of service should be applicable to YouTube as it was clearly a publisher in its own right, he said.

“Why does a tech giant, YouTube, and faceless, nameless individuals backed by an algorithm, based in California, get to decide that holding governments and decision makers to account is ‘misinformation’? Why do they get to decide what is and isn’t allowed to be news?” Mr Whittaker asked.

Committee Chair Senator Sarah Hanson-Young at the Australian Media Diversity Inquiry at Parliament House in Canberra.

Sky News was for “the open debate of all issues by a wide range of people,” Mr Whittaker said, and this was a “fundamental tenet of our society that should be upheld and protected”.

Mr Whittaker also said it was the decision of Sky News hosts not to appear before the committee, firmly rejecting suggestions from Committee Chair Senator Sarah Hanson-Young that they may have been pressured not to appear.

The hosts also hit back at the claim.

Rowan Dean called the suggestion “risible”. Rita Panahi said the assertion she was coerced was “frankly absurd”.

Alan Jones said he did not appear because of a health issue.

“Any suggestion that Paul Whittaker would intimidate me or others could only be regarded as part of the agenda against the success of Sky News. Paul Whittaker did a superb job in dismantling the nonsense that forms the basis of the Senate Inquiry,” Jones said.

In a testy exchange, Mr Whittaker rejected a suggestion from Senator Hanson-Young that Sky promoted “disinformation” and “Covid lies”.

Mr Whittaker said YouTube had “overreached” in taking down the 23 Covid-19 videos.

“There were no complaints from the public about them,” he said.

He also said he didn’t believe Sky News had even breached YouTube editorial policies.

Labor Senator Kim Carr said half a million Australians had petitioned the parliament asking for a royal commission into media diversity.

Sky did not appeal a warning issued from YouTube in December 2020, about two videos uploaded in October 2020, because the network needed clarification about the reasons for the warning, Mr Whittaker said.

Sky News was accountable to the Australian people but YouTube was not, Mr Whittaker stated.

“They take no responsibility, yet they want to take decisions on what is published,” he said.

The network did not have a specific policy of Covid-19 coverage, but always aimed to be accurate, Mr Whittaker said.

“We publish every day hours and hours of live content. I would argue we have covered every angle of this pandemic. Anyone who watches our channel is very well informed,” he said. “The policies are the police that govern everything we broadcast.”

He rejected a suggestion from Senator Hanson-Young’s “business model” was to create controversy and outrage.

“Not at all,” he said.

In response to a question from the NT Country Liberal Party Senator Sam McMahon, Mr Whittaker said the YouTube ban had a financial cost on Sky, though it was a relatively small percentage of the channel’s revenue.

Asked by SA Liberal Senator Alex Antic about attempts by the left to shut down free speech, Mr Whittaker said free speech was “a vital structure of a democratic society” but social media giants were “completely unaccountable”.

Mr Whittaker said Sky News strongly supported vaccination.

Mr Whittaker revealed a letter he wrote to Google’s CEO about the ban received no response or even acknowledgment.

Senator Antic also asked if former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had brought a lawsuit against Sky News.

“Kevin Rudd has written to us. It’s not a lawsuit at the moment,” Mr Whittaker said.

Senator Antic then asked Senator Hanson-Young if it was appropriate for Mr Rudd to give evidence at the committee hearing.

Labor Senator Kim Carr said 500,000 Australians had petitioned the parliament asking for a Royal Commission into media diversity, and asked Mr Whittaker for his views.

“We’ve never had more media diversity in this country,” Mr Whittaker said.

“People have never had so much choice for news. We’ve got new brands that have entered the market in recent years.”

Asked by Senator Carr about a report in Nine Newspapers about forthcoming News Corp coverage on climate change policies, Mr Whittaker said Sky’s focus would be on Australia’s potential energy pathways to get to net zero.

Climate change was “one of the biggest issues in the world,” he said. “We are looking at the net zero issue. We are seeking to explore the solutions.”

Sky News and News Corp did not deny climate change, Mr Whittaker said.

Grilled about the influence of News Corp non-executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch, Mr Whittaker said he had little influence over Sky News coverage, and the two spoke “infrequently”.

Asked by Greens Senator Maureen Faruqi about comments by Sky host Rowan Dean in 2017 that the then race commissioner Tim Soutphommasane should “go back to Laos,” Mr Whittaker stressed he was not with the network then.

“If they were inappropriate (comments) there are various forums people can go to if there was a breach,” Mr Whittaker said.

Mr Whittaker said far-right figure Blair Cottrell would not reappear on Sky while he remained as CEO.

“I would not have Blair Cottrell back on this network,” he said.

Quizzed by Senator Hanson-Young about Alan Jones being dropped as a Daily Telegraph columnist – and asked why he was still on Sky News – Mr Whittaker said Jones was popular with Sky’s audience, but on occasions when he made errors on air, he later corrected those errors.

SKY NEWS CEO’S FULL SPEECH TRANSCRIPT

YOUTUBE REMOVES COVID-19 MISINFORMATION VIDEOS

YouTube has removed more than one million videos worldwide, including 23 from Sky News, most of which relate to alleged Covid-19 misinformation, a senate inquiry into media diversity has heard.

Google-owned YouTube in August suspended Sky News Australia – which has 1.88 million YouTube subscribers – for a seven-day ­period.

On Monday, Google Australia and New Zealand director of public policy Lucinda Longcroft fronted the inquiry and defended the company’s actions.

Ms Longcroft told the committee that YouTube made “difficult decisions” about what was permissible online, particularly regarding the “harmful misinformation” about Covid-19.

“We are not an anything goes platform,” she said.

“The guidelines provide public guidance on content that is not allowed on our platform.”

Lucinda Longcroft, director of public policy at Google Australia and New Zealand.

Ms Longcroft said YouTube began removing content in March 2020, then later expanded the policy to specifically cover Covid-19 vaccine misinformation.

“We have vigorously enforced our Covid-19 misinformation policy to protect our users,” she said.

More than one million videos have been removed worldwide, with 90 per cent of them having 100 views or less.

Between February 2020 and March 2021, YouTube removed more than 5000 videos uploaded from an IP address in Australia regarding dangerous misinformation.

Ms Longcroft said when the Sky News videos were removed, the media company did not appeal the decision but did raise concerns about the policy.

“They have been permanently deleted,” she said.

“There is a total of 23 videos that have been removed.”

There were no public complaints about the videos and they were removed after being detected by the company’s automated system.

“We treat all videos equally, regardless of how they are notified to us,” Ms Longcroft said.

Two of them were related to the election integrity policy, while the others related to the Covid-19 policy.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is leading the committee. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Ms Longcroft also revealed Google had provided $4.8m worth of free advertising to the health department, which had resulted in 20.6 million impressions of authoritative Covid-19 information.

KEVIN RUDD SLAMS SKY NEWS

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has criticised the Australian Communications and Media Authority for what he claims was a failure to act on Sky News’ alleged misinformation about Covid-19.

More than 20 Sky News videos were pulled from the Google-owned YouTube platform and the company was banned for one week in August.

But Mr Rudd questioned why ACMA — which rules media control, diversity and local content through the Broadcasting Services Act — did not act, leaving Google to “blow the whistle” on Sky News.

“What was ACMA doing to earn their salary to allow this to occur?” he told the senate inquiry into media diversity on Monday.

“They (ACMA) have a direct responsibility here under the law because … this material is being rebroadcast on free-to-air television.”

Mr Rudd said he had corresponded with ACMA about why they did not act and was told it was within their powers to initiate their own investigations, but they chose not to.

“They pointed me … to the fact that it’s a matter for the parliament to change the laws,” he said.

“I think ACMA is useless and this is a case study of how it’s useless and should be abolished.

“A royal commission should be established to recommend an alternative body.”

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appears before the Media Diversity Inquiry at Parliament House in Canberra.

Mr Rudd also outlined some of the alleged false information on Sky News, labelling one view about Covid-19 as “stark raving mad”.

“These are not insignificant claims,” he said.

“They actually contribute to the wider belief in the community by many that vaccines don’t work or that the coronavirus pandemic has been overstated and exaggerated.”

Mr Rudd said Sky News was powerful and not just watched by far right wing “nut jobs late in the evening”.

He even suggested Sky News had a case to answer about vaccine hesitancy.

Mr Rudd also expressed concern about “who calls the shots” at Sky News and noted News Corp non-executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch had declined to face the committee.

He said Mr Murdoch’s decision not to give evidence was disappointing and “frankly, utterly spineless” given his “power”.

Mr Rudd said a royal commission would be able to compel Mr Murdoch to face questions.

He also cautioned against Australia going down a similar path to the United States with regards to its media landscape, which he said “scares the living daylights” out him.

The former prime minister also spoke about the National Broadband Network and suggested it should remain in public hands.

Most people are appearing via video link at the inquiry. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

MEDIA AUTHORITY GRILLED OVER ITS ROLE

The Australian Communications and Media Authority does not take an “active role” in ensuring broadcasters adhere to the code, a senate inquiry into media diversity has heard.

ACMA rules media control, diversity and local content through the Broadcasting Services Act, but chair Nerida O’Loughlin repeatedly told the committee on Monday that the authority did not have a “monitoring role”.

Ms O’Loughlin said the co-regulatory regime meant once ACMA referred a complaint to a broadcaster to handle, no further action was taken unless the complainant reached out to ACMA again.

“If a complainant is unsatisfied with the broadcaster’s response, then that complainant may come back to us for us to consider whether the matter needs further investigation,” she said.

Under further grilling by multiple committee members, Ms O’Loughlin denied a “gross inadequacy” in the regulatory framework had been exposed.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also expressed “astonishment” at Ms O’Loughlin’s answers to some questions and accused ACMA of “sitting on its hands”.

Asked specifically about a decision by Google-owned YouTube to take down more than 20 videos by Sky News and ban them for one week in August, Ms O’Loughlin said Google did not provide information to them about the videos.

“We’re not aware of the content that has been taken down by Google,” she said.

Over the past eight months, 37 complaints have been made to ACMA about Sky News reports regarding Covid-19.

ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin speaking at the inquiry.

Ms O’Loughlin said 24 of them referred to broadcasting material and the people who complained provided their contact details.

They were referred back to the broadcaster, but none had come back for further investigation.

She said a further nine complaints were regarding online content, which was beyond ACMA’s remit so they had not dealt with them.

Another three anonymous complaints had been made but Ms O’Loughlin said it was hard to refer them on for resolution.

One complaint from August 2020 had been investigated and ACMA found no breach.

There are no active investigations at the moment, Ms O’Loughlin said.

ACMA content and consumer division general manager Cathy Rainsford said among the 24 complaints were allegations of misinformation, as well as dissatisfaction with comments made by presenters and allegations of downplaying the pandemic.

Ms O’Loughlin said seven of the complaints were in relation to Alan Jones’ comments on July 12 while interviewing MP Craig Kelly. There was later a correction and apology made.

There were “a number” of other complaints about Mr Jones’ show, Ms Rainsford added.

Overall among the media, there were 1280 complaints and inquiries made to ACMA last year.

Ms O’Loughlin said 283 were outside their jurisdiction, while 813 were referred to the broadcasters.

Of those, 161 complaints came back across all of commercial television.

FIREFIGHTERS UNION HITS OUT AT HERALD SUN COVERAGE

United Firefighters Union Victorian Branch secretary Peter Marshall fronted the inquiry to complain about reporting by the Herald Sun, claiming they published inaccurate information despite getting a written response to an issue.

Asked if he believed there was a campaign of vilification against the union, Mr Marshall said: “One can only conclude that to be correct.”

“But that vilification can only occur in a vacuum when there’s no enforcement or accountability,” he added.

Mr Marshall said there had been 17 articles written since his last appearance at the inquiry and only on three occasions did the union get contacted for comment.

News Corp is the publisher of this article.