A so-called fact-checking website recently issued a correction after alleging a post saying Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden isn’t president-elect was wrong.
PolitiFact issued a statement following a threat of legal action from popular conservative commentator Candace Owens.
“Correction: PolitiFact originally labeled this video false in our capacity as a third-party fact-checker for Facebook,” PolitiFact said. “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.”
Biden has declared victory in the presidential election and many news outlets have been referring to him as president-elect. The Epoch Times isn’t calling the race until litigation contesting the election results plays out.
Owens in the video discussed how Biden is not president-elect until the Electoral College decides who to vote for and those votes are counted in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Joe Biden is literally and legally not the President-elect. So why is the media pretending he is?” Owens wrote in an accompanying caption.
Politifact rated the assertion false, prompting the threat of legal action from Owens.
“Weeks ago, @Facebook censored a post of mine which truthfully stated that @JoeBiden is NOT the President-elect. So I got lawyers involved. Conclusion? @PolitiFact uncensored the post & admitted that they LIED by rating my post false. The fact-checkers are lying for Democrats,” Owens wrote on Nov. 28, after the correction was issued.
The correction was not added to PolitiFact’s website.
Politifact, which receives funding from Facebook, is one of about a dozen websites utilized by Facebook to perform fact checks, which have been widely criticized for their oft-subjective nature.
Most Facebook fact-checkers are dominated by left-leaning funding, personnel, and organizations, The Epoch Times reported in September.
Politifact leans left. The website published an article earlier this month saying Biden “is president-elect of the United States.” The website acknowledged that there is still more left in the process and that the declaration is subjective.
PolitiFact didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times that the website has passed the International Fact-Checking Network vetting process test repeatedly.
Petr Savb contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
