Facebook has admitted in a court of law that such fact checks are not factual at all, but merely opinions.
People send me stuff.
As we have previously reported, journalist John Stossel is suing Facebook after Facebook’s ‘fact checkers’ labeled climate change information that Stossel posted as “false and misleading”. In the middle of all this is the nefarious website “Climate Feedback” which has a bunch of climate zealots that write up what they claim are “fact checks” for articles, videos, and news stories they disagree with.
Facebook just blew the “fact check” claim right out of the water in court.
In its response to Stossel’s defamation claim, Facebook responds on Page 2, Line 8 in the court document (download it below) that Facebook cannot be sued for defamation (which is making a false and harmful assertion) because its ‘fact checks’ are mere statements of opinion rather than factual assertions.
Opinions are not subject to defamation claims, while false assertions of fact can be subject to defamation. The quote in Facebook’s complaint is,
“The labels themselves are neither false nor defamatory; to the contrary, they constitute protected opinion.”

So, in a court of law, in a legal filing, Facebook admits that its ‘fact checks’ are not really ‘fact’ checks at all, but merely ‘opinion assertions.’
This strikes me as public relations disaster, and possibly a looming legal disaster for Facebook, PolitiFact, Climate Feedback and other left-leaning entities that engage in biased “fact checking.”
Such “fact checks” are now shown to be simply an agenda to supress free speech and the open discussion of science by disguising liberal media activism as something supposedly factual, noble, neutral, trustworthy, and based on science.
It is none of those.
Here is the court filing:
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The rot starts at the top . The top appoint only people who follow their example and thoughts . This has spread throughout our ‘free’ society worldwide .
Some opinions are more equal than others comrade.
So, FakeBook wants it both ways!
Liberals don’t believe rules should apply to them.
Notice that the “fact checkers” Facebook employs to render the opinion that they use to censor content are foreign Nationals. Facebook is a US corporation. Why are they employing French non profits to do their dirty work?
It doesn’t matter who they hire to do the dirty work, the point is the dirty work that’s being done.
The Left has been spewing propaganda and calling it science for so long that they have now forgotten to engage in even the false pretense that science is anything other than their very loudly voiced opinion, amplified by the complicit media and the censoring social media.
We recently saw the same naked arrogance when Anthony “Never Right” Fauci declared himself to be The Science.
Fauci is a human 💩
Definitely has a Napoleon complex.
Schrödinger’s Facts
Yes, I believe Schrodinger stated that the mere checking of a fact can affect its position as either true or false, and therefore, the truth or falsity of an individual fact cannot be known and exists in both states until the box is checked.
Just another data point that the left are evil fascists
Facebook should Close its doors for good
Let’s Go Facebook!!
Facebook reinforces the belief that Big Media openly believe in the Cake and Eat It principle.
In other words
LIES
That is total BS. If it is any kind of opinion it is from the people who want to control dialogue and order their willing slaves what to write.
Which means that every time Facebook labels a link as ‘fact checked’ we can now site their own words that it is mere opinion.
Good.
Keep feeding them the rope.
Progressives regard reality as continually being malleable and plastic. In this case, facts are paid opinion. The label of “fact check” is itself opinion. They impeach themselves, but are shameless.
Not being an accredited lawyer of any kind, can someone explain the outcome? Has Stossel any chance ?
Rud Istvan
December 9, 2021 9:58 am
😉
If you hover over the upper right corner of a post you will see a symbol that resembles two links of a chain. Pressing the symbol will give you a link to that post suitable for pasting.
Narrative: a story.
Opinion: a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
Fact: a thing that is known or proven to be true.
Facebook employs at least a couple of smart people. And these smart people based their views or judgements according to the narrative. The story.
The End.
Galileo’s theory of the Earth spinning and revolving around the sun was also “fact-checked” by the Roman Inquisition. Too bad he couldn’t have sued.
Galileo was presenting the sun centered solar system as a proven fact.
At that date in time, it had not yet been proven, it was still a theory.
The problem was always who fact checks the fact checkers.
Its well known that left wingers, leftys, socialists, communists etal lie through the teeth, as they believe that what they are doing is for the good of humanity. So they murdered hundreds of millions in the 20th century without a pang of regret or apology.
Of course those that think for themselves and try to stay informed already knew this.
I have always contended that “Fact Checkers” were an invention of the media when they found the credibility of their “journalists” and thus their ability to sway public opinion, wanning.
I am really enjoying the deafening silence of those same “journalists” and the many talking heads and celebrities that were so adamant that Jussie was telling the truth when that story first broke and even afterward when the CPD had made it clear there was no evidence to back his story.
Exactly Rah. Jussie is a terrible human and worthy of all scorn. The tweets from those on the right have been fantastic. I only wish Jussie would face real Justice.
Seems there is a chance he’ll face some time in jail since his blatant perjury on the stand. Some trial lawyers are now saying the judge will probably take that into consideration when he hands down the sentence. There can be admission without contrition. Ted Kennedy was a prime example of that. But there can be no contrition without admission and that is not going to play well when his judgment day comes.
Even now, the media is trying to spin the story that the real tragedy of this case, is that so called conservatives are going to use this case as evidence that hate crimes are not as prevalent as the media has been claiming.
The fact is; the term “hate crime” is a progressive fiction all by itself. To have a criminal act a person must have a particular state of mind … “criminal intent” or mens rea. An angry mind or hateful thought has no bearing on criminality since there is no way to assess it. Thinking nasty thoughts is not a crime.
“Thinking nasty thoughts is not a crime.”
But it is thoughtcrime (see 1984, which shows a world the left aspires to)
Exactly. Anyone who gives credence to ‘thought-crime’ must believe it’s possible to read minds and all that represents.
In the memorable words of Clint Eastwood, “Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has them”. Leftys have two..
And the foulest stuff spews from the one in the face.
Isn’t the rest of the quote “and some stink more than others”?
Strange, I haven’t seen this story in the Misleadia, must be fake 😉
And yet, I am being disciplined for a post about wind turbines.
If this was posted on Facebook, it would be ‘fact checked’
So what does that mean for the Stossel lawsuit?
FB walked themselves into a spot and are currently shopping for “the right judge”.