Meta has revealed plans to reduce the problem of misinformation across Facebook and Instagram in the coming federal election, signing up a new fact-checking partner and allocating more funding to its partners to help police spurious claims.

As the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) steps up its campaign against lies and conspiracy theories targeting voters, Meta Australia’s head of public policy, Josh Machin, said the company has been preparing for the federal election for a long time, working on plans to combat misinformation, election interference and other forms of abuse on its platforms.