Sky News forced to apologise after quoting fake Andrew Forrest tweet

Sky News Australia has apologised after a fake quote from a social media account posing as billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest was published in a news story criticising the ABC for a lengthy acknowledgment of country before an interview with managing director David Anderson.

The quote published by Sky originated from the account @AndrewT95711747 on X (formerly Twitter), which said the ABC would soon “be broadcasting an Islamic prayer in addition to a welcome to country before each news bulletin”, subsequently attributed to Forrest.

Fortescue’s executive chairman and founder Andrew Forrest.Credit: Bloomberg

The account, while under the name “Andrew” with a picture of Forrest, has no description, and does not claim to be an official account for the mining billionaire. The profile had 79 followers and the post had two likes.

In the story, written by lifestyle reporter Isabella Rayner, Sky reported the ABC had faced criticism for airing “a lengthy Acknowledgement of Country” before an interview involving reporter and cultural adviser Miriam Corowa and Anderson, which aired on Tuesday following the publication of a long-awaited review which found systemic racism at the broadcaster.

“In a short statement on X, mining billionaire Twiggy Forrest weighed in on the speech,” the Sky piece said, before quoting the entire post.

Fake Andrew Forrest quote published by Sky News Australia.Credit: The Age

The social media post remains online, while the quote has been removed from the news story. Sky has since published a note below the article apologising to Forrest for quoting the spurious tweet in the original story.

“An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a response to Andrew Forrest, which was in fact made by a false Twitter account purporting to be him. The reference has been removed and Sky News apologises to Mr Forrest for the error,” the note said.

Sky posted the note after it received inquiries from this masthead and declined to comment further.

The quoted post on X was published in response to far-right commentator Avi Yemini, who posted a video of the interview in question, alongside a comment “DEFUND THIS CRAP ALREADY”, which was also referenced in Sky’s story.

The Listen Loudly, Act Strongly review, led by Dr Terri Janke, said the ABC’s management must commit to long-term systemic change to break a cycle of discrimination, after it found overwhelming evidence of racism at the ABC, both internally and from external individuals and organisations in connection with their work.

Representatives for Forrest said he is out of the country and could not be reached at the time of publishing.

Forrest is suing social media giant Facebook, alleging a misuse of information for allowing scam ads on its platform featuring his likeness.

He alleges that Meta’s automated technology plays an active role in creating and displaying scam ads through its platform and that its software uses sophisticated technology, including generative AI, to determine what completed ads look like and who sees them. He has argued that big tech and social media should face tougher scrutiny.

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