CheckMate is a weekly newsletter from RMIT FactLab recapping the latest in the world of fact checking and misinformation. It draws on the work of FactLab's researchers and journalists, including its CrossCheck unit, and of its sister organisation, RMIT ABC Fact Check.
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CheckMate March 17, 2023
Good morning,
This week, CheckMate explains why a proposal to use phone jammers in NSW public schools doesn't pose a risk to student safety.
We also explode a viral list that claims there are already more than 50 Indigenous "voices" to parliament.
No, New South Wales Labor's phone ban won't allow kids to be 'tracked'
Less than two weeks out from the NSW state election, the Coalition has accused Labor of proposing to roll out mobile "jamming" technology that would allow school students to be "tracked".
The opposition has pledged to ban students from using mobile phones in all government high schools, in a move that would broaden an existing ban in primary schools and bring NSW into line with most other states.
But after Labor flagged this week that it would consider using phone-jamming technology — a version of which is currently used to stop illegal phone use in two NSW prisons — Education Minister Sarah Mitchell warned that the proposal, floated by tech company Educell, posed serious dangers.
"We're talking about students. They are pupils, they are not prisoners. And the fact that what Labor want to do is bring technology from [a super-maximum security prison] into your child's school, I think is incredibly concerning," she said in a televised interview.
"[T]here's no consideration of the data. Having a third party literally be able to track your child and where they are, is incredibly concerning."
This, however, misrepresents how the technology works.
According to Educell's website, its system prevents phones from connecting to their regular phone network, meaning students would be unable to make or receive calls or connect to the internet while at school. (They would still be able to connect to the school network, if permitted, meaning exemptions are possible.)
Educell director Andrew Mednick told CheckMate that it was "absolutely not" possible to track a student's location or collect data from their phone using his company's technology.
"The hardware doesn't have the capability, nor is it a requirement of the system to perform its core function," he said, adding that it would not install anything on students' phones and was "considered a 'dumb device' in the telco industry".
As Mr Mednick described it, the system operates by placing a small box the size of a Wi-Fi router in each room where the school wants to limit mobile usage. These would then be programmed to turn on and off at specified times.
"It's calibrated for a specific room," he said. "If you were in a classroom it was in, and walked out into a hallway where we haven't installed it, your phone would regain its network connection."
Mark Gregory, an associate professor with RMIT University and a communications technology expert, told CheckMate that a mobile phone jammer was "a blocking device … that typically transmits on the same frequencies used by mobile phones, thereby preventing a connection with mobile phone towers".
Data on phone usage "cannot be intercepted" with jamming technology, he said, noting that while military-grade jammers could make it possible to track a phone's location by targeting mobile network towers rather than phones, these were "more sophisticated" than those being proposed for NSW schools.
"We're talking about a very significantly different level of device", he said, adding that these more basic devices "just blow out frequencies in any direction".
"It's putting out signals right across the spectrum that will be picked up by the phone, and that's wiping out the phone's ability to talk to anything."
In a written statement, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said certain technologies designed to interfere with or block phone signals were classified as "banned equipment" under the Radiocommunications Act, and that it had "not licensed or otherwise authorised the use of devices intended to block mobile phones in schools".
It noted that Educell had approached ACMA with its proposal but had not yet applied for an exemption.
The facts about list of Indigenous 'voices' that's gone viral
As the Voice to Parliament debate heats up, a list of 51 organisations purportedly focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and issues has been shared online to imply that a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice is unwarranted.
"Here is just a short list of the massive amount [of] voices already in place," one tweet featuring the list states.
Another reads: "So we'll have 52 voices then!"
But none of the organisations included on that list — which this newsletter touched on last week — is a current national representative body, let alone constitutionally enshrined.
In fact, of the entities listed, at least 16 no longer exist, many are unrelated to the federal government or parliament and one is, in fact, an international organisation.
That's according to a detailed breakdown of the current status and role of each listed entity provided to CheckMate by James Haughton, a senior researcher in Indigenous affairs at the Australian Parliamentary Library, which provides non-partisan and politically neutral information, analysis and advice to parliament.
Included on the list was a Victorian phone directory that hasn't been updated since 2010, three webpages, one of which is no longer maintained, and three separate listings for the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).
Also featured were two newspapers and a television station, as well as the NAIDOC cultural festival and a number of organisations dedicated to Indigenous health, maternity and childcare in specific regions.
Of the numerous NGOs included on the list, the focus of the organisations ranged from business and education to health and women's law and culture.
Elsewhere on the list are three research institutions, as well as two listings that are the titles of reports (the first, an annual health report published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the second, the findings of a 2005 child health survey in Western Australia).
Finally, one organisation listed, the Assembly of First Nations, is a Canadian assembly modelled on the United Nations.
As experts previously told CheckMate, the proposed Voice to Parliament would be constitutionally enshrined and independent of the government and parliament. It would be made up of Indigenous representatives appointed by and accountable to First Nations peoples.
Tasmanian newspaper publishes, then retracts, letter featuring fake trans allegation
Staff working for a Tasmanian council have faced ongoing abuse after a local newspaper published a letter to the editor incorrectly claiming that a man had entered the female change rooms of a council-run swimming pool.
As ABC's Media Watch reported this week, the Launceston Examiner published a letter alleging that young girls had been in the changing rooms of the Launceston Leisure and Aquatic Centre when a man entered and started to undress in front of them.
According to the letter, the man was forcibly removed by another patron but staff at the centre refused to take action because the person removed identified as female. Meanwhile, the patron who supposedly stepped in was said to have been given a life ban from the facility.
However, Launceston City Council denied the allegations, saying no such incident had occurred.
"Disappointingly, the newspaper made no attempt to check the veracity of the letter with the council," Mayor Danny Gibson told the ABC.
"The publishing of this letter has, as you could expect, resulted in considerable angst and grief for council staff, particularly those at the front desk at the aquatic centre and, indeed, those on the ends of the telephone, who continue to be the subject of ongoing abuse."
The editor of The Examiner, Mark Westfield, said in a clarification published a day later: "We appear to have been misled."
Westfield, who has reportedly since left his position, served as a media adviser to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and managed the 2022 election campaign of Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, who has come under fire for her comments on transgender issues.
Edited by Ellen McCutchan and David Campbell
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