- amid foreign influence scandal uncovered by Fact Check Files

Facebook has blocked an Australian fact checking operation from policing content on its platform after a Sky News Australia investigation uncovered a secret foreign-funded bid to influence the upcoming Voice referendum.

Jack Houghton Digital Editor

RMIT FactLab suspended as Facebook fact checker

Tech giant Meta has suspended RMIT FactLab as a fact checker on Facebook. Sky News Digital Editor Jack Houghton says this is a “massive” development after the fact checker targeted views against the Voice.

Facebook has suspended an Australian fact checking operation from policing content on its platform after a Sky News Australia investigation uncovered a secret foreign-funded bid to influence the upcoming Voice referendum.

The powerful RMIT Factlab operation - which was being paid up to $740,000 a year by Meta - will be banned from judging what is true or false on social media while Meta and the International Fact Checking Network probe its operation.