Facebook’s Factchecker bats for Boris: meet Tory Donor Michael Samuel, who founded & funds ‘Full Fact’ – would you trust them to be ‘unbiased’?

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“IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL HAVE THE INFORMATION WE NEED TO MAKE OUR MINDS UP ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC DEBATE.” WILL MOY, FULL FACT DIRECTOR

Michael Samuel is a director of a number of companies, one quoted and the others private, and was Chief Executive of Mayborn Group plc. He is a Conservative Party donor. He is also Chairman of the Anna Freud Centre and Chairman and joint Founder of Full Fact.

Will Moy runs the day to day operations of the Tory funded and somehow ‘independent fact checking’ social media platform & charity. Our screenshots prove they delete posts, and their lexicon choice suggests a pretty deep anti Brexit bias. What’s worse, their own Director has admitted their standards are appalling in his “please don’t rumble us and post about this online” apology message (posted on our Facebook page in June).

Full Fact has a turnover of £600,000 – they claim they need £800,000 for next year. The organisation was twice refused Charity Status. After the Tories got into power in 2010, the organisation was awarded Charitable Status. The only reason this organisation has Charity Status is:

“FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF UNBIASED INFORMATION & EDUCATION.”

Which is laughable given that this ‘non-profit company’ is Chaired by & funded by Tory Party donor & AnneFreud Centre Chairman Michael Samuel. Presumably that’s how they can afford such plush offices, at 2 Carlton Gardens, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AA. Bias isn’t bad. Bias masquerading as balance is a cancer on our politics. We’re called ‘Nye Bevan News’, sometimes people don’t know who Bevan was, so we put these words in our description/about section for clarity:

“PRO PROLETARIAT, ANTI ESTABLISHMENT PARLIAMENTARY COVERAGE.”

We don’t pretend to be unbiased, but nor do we deny the British Public their right to correct us or tell us we’re wrong, or worse. Barely any comments or profiles get blocked from our social media feeds. When we are proven wrong, we add corrections to our posts – we don’t hide from our mistakes.

The same cannot be said for Full Fact. We have taken screenshot recordings of numerous instances where they have deleted contradictions and corrections without answering. It is immoral of them to do this whilst claiming they are above the fray of partizan politics. In the internet era, that claim of objectivity is, inevitably, compromised, no matter who you  are. In full fact’s case, their compromise amounts to about £90,000 in money from the Charities of a Tory Donor. For contrast, we get £25 or so a week in contributions to our page.

Honest bias is better than a dishonest claim of neutrality. Sometimes, as their social media followers have proven time and again, Full Fact’s mask slips in its output, and the public see their true if somewhat soft, Tory face – as revealed in this telling climb down they were forced to make after causing an outrage with their so called ‘fact checking’ of the Tory Schools Policy:

“WE EXPRESSED THIS BADLY THE FIRST TIME AROUND – THE QUESTION ISN’T WHETHER FEEDING KIDS IS GOOD FOR THEM, IT’S WHETHER IT’S THE BEST WAY TO SPEND THE MONEY.” – WILL MOY, FULL FACT DIRECTOR

That says it all about who these people represent, and who they don’t represent. We tried ringing their office for comment after exposing them. They refused. Please try also (07794753114/02033975140).

#Conservatives #Tories #Jeremycorbyn#VoteLabour

 

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