Meta to fund fact-checkers for Voice referendum
Meta is increasing funding to a number of news organisations in a bid to shore up its fact-checking ahead of the Voice to Parliament Referendum.
The tech giant has announced one-off funding boosts to the Australian Associated Press, RMIT’s FactLab, and Agence France-Presse, in order to reduce the spread of false articles across Facebook, Instagram, and now Threads.
“We know the importance of ensuring Australians have access to reliable information about the Voice to Parliament Referendum in Australia,” explains Mia Garlick, Director of Public Policy for Meta Australia.
“Our fact checkers are independent and work to reduce the spread of misinformation across Meta’s services. When they rate something as false, we significantly reduce its distribution so fewer people see it.”
Meta is funding a new media literacy campaign with AAP, that will “share tips and advice with people so that they can make informed decisions about what they read, trust and share,” according to Garlick.
Meta will also begin to notify people who try to share something flagged as fake news. If they persist in posting it, Meta will add a warning label to their post, with a link to a debunking article.
Aside from fact checking articles, Meta is working with RMIT CrossCheck to increase monitoring for misinformation trends, in what APAC Director Anne Kruger calls a pre-emptive approach.
“In the Voice to Parliament Referendum some narratives may not fit into a clear ‘fact check’ yet are still important in terms of educating the public safely and calmly,” Kruger explains.
“This multimedia project will allow us to highlight themes including via social media and support democratic discussion.”
Meta is also partnering with ReachOut to create a dedicated youth mental health initiative for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and coordinating with the Government’s election integrity assurance taskforce and security agencies in order to counter any threats to the referendum, including “signs of coordinated inauthentic behaviour” across Meta’s suite of apps.
Finally, Meta is tightening regulations over political advertising on its platforms, requiring government-issued photo ID and a ‘paid for by’ disclaimer for every ad. This has been expanded to include “social issue ads that seek to influence public opinion through discussion, debate or advocacy for or against important topics.”
As the Voice is a sensitive subject, Meta is also allowing users to elect to see fewer political ads around the referendum.
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