Sky News Australia has issued an apology after mistakenly publishing a fabricated quote from a social media account impersonating billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest.
The quote appeared in a news article that criticised the ABC for delivering an extended Acknowledgment of Country before an interview with managing director David Anderson.
The misleading quote originated from the X account @AndrewT95711747. The post falsely attributed to Forrest stated that the ABC would soon “be broadcasting an Islamic prayer in addition to a welcome to country before each news bulletin”.
The false post on X was written in response to a video shared by far-right commentator Avi Yemini. Yemini had posted footage of the ABC interview along with the caption, “DEFUND THIS CRAP ALREADY,” a sentiment that Sky News referenced in its original story.
Although the account used the name “Andrew” and featured a photo of Forrest, it lacked any description or verification indicating it was an official account for the mining tycoon. At the time of publication, the account had only 79 followers, and the post itself had garnered just two likes.
The Sky News article, penned by lifestyle reporter Isabella Rayner, mentioned criticism aimed at the ABC for broadcasting “a lengthy Acknowledgement of Country” prior to an interview between cultural adviser Miriam Corowa and Anderson.
“In a short statement on X, mining billionaire Twiggy Forrest weighed in on the speech,” the Sky article stated, quoting the fabricated social media post in full. The post remains live on the platform, but Sky has since removed the quote from the original news piece. The news outlet has added a clarification to the article, apologising to Forrest for the mistake.
“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 correction reads.
The interview in question aired on Tuesday following the release of the “Listen Loudly, Act Strongly” review that uncovered systemic racism at the ABC.
The review, led by Dr. Terri Janke, called on ABC’s management to commit to sustained, systemic change after it uncovered extensive evidence of racism at the broadcaster, both internally and from external entities connected with its operations.
Forrest, who is overseas and unavailable to comment, is currently pursuing legal action against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of allowing scam ads to use his likeness without consent. His lawsuit claims that Meta’s automated technology actively facilitates the creation and distribution of these fraudulent ads, leveraging advanced tools like generative AI to design and target the ads. Forrest has consistently argued that big tech companies should be held to stricter accountability measures.
