(Amanda Prestigiacomo) Conservative author and commentator Candace Owens challenged left-leaning fact-checking site PolitiFact, a partner with Facebook, over a “false” rating — and won.
Related Candace Owens Suing Facebook Fact-Checkers For Defamation: ‘Not Going To Give Up And Sit Down’
by Amanda Prestigiacomo, November 28th, 2020
Not only did PolitiFact remove their “false” rating and retract an article on why Owens’ video was allegedly false, but the site offered an added “correction” admitting their fault.
Owens’ video, which was posted on Nov. 12, offered commentary on the 2020 presidential election, and was captioned, “Joe Biden is literally and legally not the President-elect. So why is the media pretending he is?”
The video was hit with a “false” rating, and, as noted by Owens, theoretically, every single person who shared the post was alerted by Facebook that they had shared “false” content.
“Weeks ago, [Facebook] censored a post of mine which truthfully stated that [Joe Biden] is NOT the President-elect. So I got lawyers involved,” she said Saturday via Twitter. “Conclusion? [PolitiFact] uncensored the post & admitted that they LIED by rating my post false. The fact-checkers are lying for Democrats.”
The note from PolitiFact reads as follows:
Correction: PolitiFact originally labeled this video false in our capacity as a third-party fact-checker for Facebook. On Nov. 20, an appeal to that decision was made on behalf of Ms. Owens. PolitiFact approved the appeal on Nov. 20, determined that a correction was appropriate, and removed the false rating.
“At 8 Months pregnant, I unfortunately cannot fight on the ground alongside patriots like I am used to, but I am taking every measure to fight these communists in the court room,” Owens said in a follow-up post. “It is my goal to expose these lying ‘fact-checkers’ one by one. [Joe Biden] is NOT the President-elect.”
At 8 Months pregnant, I unfortunately cannot fight on the ground alongside patriots like I am used to, but I am taking every measure to fight these communists in the court room. It is my goal to expose these lying “fact-checkers” one by one. @JoeBiden is NOT the President-elect. pic.twitter.com/hW4NLpK4tc
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 28, 2020
But the language from PolitiFact’s note perhaps downplays what really happened.
The BLEXIT founder told The Daily Wire on Saturday that she reached out to PolitiFact on Nov. 20 with legal representation and immediately heard back, with PolitiFact admitting their error. Language from a lawyer at PolitiFact, according to Owens, read as follows:
Upon first glance, this video from Ms. Owens was labeled false from PolitiFact in error. We already have removed the label from the video and you should now be able to see it unobstructed.
As we’re about 25 minutes into this, we still don’t know how or why the post was labeled ‘false.’ We are investigating and hope to share more information with you formally on Monday.
Owens said she was not further briefed on the supposed “error” and that she felt the retraction wasn’t enough; she wanted PolitiFact to admit publicly that they falsely fact-checked her.
“I wanted to show that these fact-checkers just lie, and they usually go unchecked because most people don’t have the money, don’t have the time, and don’t have the platform to go after them — and I have all three,” she said.
With pressure from Owens’ legal representation, PolitiFact issued the correction, which she shared with the public on Saturday. That was a win. And another “major win,” she said, was PolitiFact essentially admitting “that Joe Biden is not the President-elect.”
Owens, who’s currently suing fact-checkers from USAToday and Lead Stories, explained to The Daily Wire that she knew she had to reach out with legal representation if she wanted to get results with this latest false fact-check. She said that in her experience, when she’s tried to appeal fact-checks through the system, she’s been stonewalled.
“These people are sitting back thinking they’re the gods of tech; opinion-checkers, they’re censorship lords,” the conservative said.
It was that past treatment by fact-checkers that sparked Owens’ suit, which was announced earlier this month. She has launched her own legal website to raise funds for the pricey battle.
The suit seems to have numerous goals, including an effort to disincentivize single-narrative “fact-checking.”
“I want to make it so there’s no incentive for PolitFact, USAToday, Lead Stories to sign-on to be a fact-checker,” she said. “I want to show that they can get sued and lose money. So, what is the point of them taking on that liability on behalf of Facebook?”
“At the same time, Facebook is distancing themselves from fact-checkers,” Owens continued. “We went after Facebook and sent them a letter, and they said, we have nothing to do with the fact checkers. … So, if Facebook isn’t coming to their aid, and they’re being sued by individuals, there will be no upside. And that’s sort of the corner we’re trying to pinch them into.”
Owens wants the censorship stopped for the millions of Americans sharing opinions or information against the one accepted narrative from the Left. If she wins her legal case, she said, she could set the precedent for a massive class action lawsuit against Facebook from others who’ve allegedly been censored.
As announced on election night, Owens is joining The Daily Wire and has a new show in the works set to debut in 2021.
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About The Author
Amanda Prestigiacomo is a staff writer for The Daily Wire, focusing on a range of news issues with an emphasis on culture. She’s based in New York and has been working in conservative media since 2015. You can contact her at [email protected]
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Source:
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