RMIT FactLab training required to renew Meta partnership

The Melbourne-based fact-checking organisation’s international accreditation has been restored, but it has more to do if it wants its partnership with Meta back.

RMIT FactLab director Russell Skelton.

Staff at RMIT University’s fact-checking unit will be required to undergo mandatory training before tech giant Meta agrees to reinstate its partnership with the troubled division.

Last week Melbourne-based RMIT FactLab cleared one hurdle, when the US-based International Fact-Checking Network announced that its certification had been restored.

RMIT FactLab’s partnership with Meta, suspended in August after it was revealed the unit was conducting fact checks without IFCN certification, will also be reinstated.

However a second hurdle remains: following the IFCN announcement, a Meta spokeswoman told The Australian that staff at the organisation, led by director Russell Skelton, would be required to undergo training before Meta would give the hub the green light to fact check content published on its Facebook platform.

“At a high level, all third-party fact checkers are required to stay current on mandatory trainings on our program and RMIT is subject to the same process,” the Meta spokeswoman said. Further details of the training were not provided.

The fact-checking unit has been under intense scrutiny in recent months for completing numerous fact checks on content including that related to the October voice referendum.

The hub’s fact checks were heavily skewed to query work regarding the No campaign, while barely any questioned the Yes campaign. RMIT FactLab was criticised by Sky News Australia after it slapped multiple “false information” labels on video pieces published on Facebook. Among those labelled was prime time host Peta Credlin’s editorial commentary that said the Uluru Statement from the Heart was not a single-page document, but 26 pages long.

Labelled content could no longer be viewed on Facebook.

Sky News (owned by News Corporation, publisher of The Australian) published a lengthy report on the FactLab’s conduct in the “Fact Check Files” by digital editor Jack Houghton.

Mr Skelton retweeted numerous pro-voice posts, including by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney. Mr Skelton’s biography on the FactLab website states he is “responsible for the research hub’s strategic direction and editorial policies”.

“This includes oversight of research projects, approved fundraising, and editorial partnerships involving misinformation, disinformation, and project collaborations.”