BOMBSHELL: In court filing, Facebook admits ‘fact checks’ are nothing more than opinion

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:



4.7 147 votes
Article Rating

Discover more from Watts Up With That?

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

303 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
glenn holdcroft
December 9, 2021 5:31 pm

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 .

ResourceGuy
December 9, 2021 6:51 pm

Some opinions are more equal than others comrade.

Kevin O'Mara
December 9, 2021 7:15 pm

So, FakeBook wants it both ways!

MarkW
Reply to  Kevin O'Mara
December 11, 2021 6:29 pm

Liberals don’t believe rules should apply to them.

December 9, 2021 7:28 pm

…journalist John Stossel is suing Facebook after Facebook’s ‘fact checkers’ labeled climate change information that Stossel posted as “false and misleading”.

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?

John Endicott
Reply to  Doonman
December 13, 2021 4:41 am

It doesn’t matter who they hire to do the dirty work, the point is the dirty work that’s being done.

Liberty4Ever
December 9, 2021 7:30 pm

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.

Derg
Reply to  Liberty4Ever
December 10, 2021 4:02 am

Fauci is a human 💩

Definitely has a Napoleon complex.

Archer
December 9, 2021 7:53 pm

Schrödinger’s Facts

Reply to  Archer
December 10, 2021 8:40 am

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.

GemJedi
December 9, 2021 9:46 pm

Just another data point that the left are evil fascists

Matt
December 9, 2021 10:12 pm

Facebook should Close its doors for good

December 9, 2021 10:18 pm

Let’s Go Facebook!!

Craig from Oz
December 9, 2021 10:26 pm

Facebook reinforces the belief that Big Media openly believe in the Cake and Eat It principle.

Philip L horner
December 9, 2021 11:23 pm

In other words

LIES

andy in epsom
December 10, 2021 1:18 am

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.

Anders Valland
December 10, 2021 1:45 am

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.

Rod Evans
December 10, 2021 2:17 am

Keep feeding them the rope.

Ewin Barnett
December 10, 2021 3:09 am

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.

December 10, 2021 3:16 am

Not being an accredited lawyer of any kind, can someone explain the outcome? Has Stossel any chance ?

Sweet Old Bob
Reply to  bonbon
December 10, 2021 9:00 am

Rud Istvan

December 9, 2021 9:58 am

😉

MarkW
Reply to  Sweet Old Bob
December 11, 2021 6:37 pm

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.

fretslider
December 10, 2021 3:41 am

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.

Bruce Cobb
December 10, 2021 5:12 am

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.

MarkW
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
December 11, 2021 6:39 pm

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.

DP111
December 10, 2021 5:35 am

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.

rah
December 10, 2021 5:35 am

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.

Derg
Reply to  rah
December 10, 2021 11:19 am

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.

rah
Reply to  Derg
December 10, 2021 3:18 pm

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.

MarkW
Reply to  rah
December 11, 2021 6:43 pm

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.

Rory Forbes
Reply to  MarkW
December 13, 2021 6:35 pm

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.

John Endicott
Reply to  Rory Forbes
December 16, 2021 3:42 am

Thinking nasty thoughts is not a crime.”

But it is thoughtcrime (see 1984, which shows a world the left aspires to)

Rory Forbes
Reply to  John Endicott
December 16, 2021 9:44 am

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.

DP111
December 10, 2021 5:38 am

In the memorable words of Clint Eastwood, “Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has them”. Leftys have two..

rah
Reply to  DP111
December 10, 2021 6:56 am

And the foulest stuff spews from the one in the face.

Old Cocky
Reply to  DP111
December 11, 2021 12:09 am

Isn’t the rest of the quote “and some stink more than others”?

December 10, 2021 5:43 am

Strange, I haven’t seen this story in the Misleadia, must be fake 😉

Sherri
December 10, 2021 5:57 am

And yet, I am being disciplined for a post about wind turbines.

PostwarO27
December 10, 2021 6:06 am

If this was posted on Facebook, it would be ‘fact checked’

JVossos
December 10, 2021 7:37 am

So what does that mean for the Stossel lawsuit?

LdB
Reply to  JVossos
December 10, 2021 8:09 pm

FB walked themselves into a spot and are currently shopping for “the right judge”.

Verified by MonsterInsights