Global tech giant, Meta, has rejected independent MP, Craig Kelly’s suggestion to remove fact-checking on the social media platform.
The Guardian Australia reports the United Australia party leader (featured image) – and former Liberal MP – asked Meta’s head of public policy in Australia, Josh Machin, if he could guarantee “there will be no foreign interference by Meta in the Australian election” by blocking or banning of politicians or political parties.
Machin – who took part in yesterday’s parliamentary committee examining social media and online safety hearing – said the platform would continue to apply its community standards policy.
Kelly then asked if that meant posts would be fact-checked and subsequently removed or have their reach restricted.
“If a piece of content violates our community standards then yes, we’ll be removing it,” Machin replied.
“And that’s a really important protection that we have in place in order to protect the safety and the integrity of the election campaign.
Guardian Australia reports Kelly then argued Meta’s policy breached Australia’s implied freedom of political speech, to which Machin responded their policy was applied evenly to both politicians and the general public.
Last year, Kelly was booted from Facebook after it was found his posts promoting ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as Covid-19 treatments breached the social media giant’s misinformation policies.
However, the United Australia Party maintains a large presence on Facebook and other social media platforms, with ABC News and Pathmatics finding the UAP had the highest adspend of any organisation during January 2022, with $5.05 million spent on online advertisements, more than Foxtel, Shopify, Uber Eats and Menulog.
However, most of those funds were spent on a single video – not of current leader, Kelly – but of party founder, Clive Palmer.
