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1. A viral article w/climate misinformation, published on The Daily Wire, was rated "partly false" by a Facebook fact-checking partners
The fact-check was written by 7 PhD scientists
Then The Daily Wire and others complained
And the rating was removed https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
The fact-check was written by 7 PhD scientists
Then The Daily Wire and others complained
And the rating was removed https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
2. Prior to the removal of the fact check, Facebook staff prepared a memo for top executives in which they considered the pros and cons of contacting Science Feedback and asking them to remove the rating
@emorwee and I obtained the internal Facebook memo
https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
@emorwee and I obtained the internal Facebook memo
https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
3. The memo reveals that Congressman Mike Johnson, a member of the GOP leadership, contacted Facebook and asked them to remove the "partly false" rating
Facebook's policy team said it's "stakeholders" viewed the fact check as "biased" https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
Facebook's policy team said it's "stakeholders" viewed the fact check as "biased" https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
4. Facebook's comms team, however, advised against getting involved, citing previous reporting in Popular Information about its fact-checking program and special treatment for The Daily Wire
Sign up here for independent accountability journalism -> http://popular.info/subscribe
Sign up here for independent accountability journalism -> http://popular.info/subscribe
5. The executive director of Science Feedback tells me and @emorwee, my co-author, that it was not pressured by Facebook to remove the fact check
But the scientists who produced the fact check also talked to us, and they are not happy https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
But the scientists who produced the fact check also talked to us, and they are not happy https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
6. Here is the giveaway: The fact check was not removed from nearly identical versions of the article published on other right-wing websites.
The change was only made for The Daily Wire https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
The change was only made for The Daily Wire https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
7. The Daily Wire added a brief summary of the Science Feedback fact check at the end.
Nothing was corrected.
And the article was placed behind a paywall so you can only get to the Science Feedback link if you pay for a subscription https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
Nothing was corrected.
And the article was placed behind a paywall so you can only get to the Science Feedback link if you pay for a subscription https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
8. This was a joint effort by me and @emorwee, who writes the climate change newsletter HEATED, and the article goes into detail about what The Daily Wire article gets wrong and exactly why its so dangerous. https://popular.info/p/fact-check-of-viral-climate-misinformation
