Baseless claims: Electoral commission sees rise in fake news in lead-up to federal poll

The Australian Electoral Commission has reported an increase in the number of misleading posts on social media in the lead-up to this year’s federal election compared to 2019, with some candidates making baseless claims about election fraud and COVID-19.

The commission has been working closely with social media giants this year to combat misinformation and disinformation, as liberal democracies around the world continue to grapple with the surge of fake news turbocharged during the 2020 United States presidential election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and wife Jenny casting their votes during the 2019 federal election. Credit: Photo: David Gray

The commission said many of the baseless claims being peddled on social media were in line with what was being disseminated throughout the 2020 US election.

It has referred 22 posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok containing potential misinformation to social media companies since September, leading to the removal of three pages and 11 posts, and the suspension of two accounts. Two of the referrals are still pending, and five instances in which the platform did not find that its terms of service had been breached.

“We have seen more misinformation and disinformation on social media in the lead-up to this year’s federal election than at the 2019 election,” an AEC spokesman said.

“We’re seeing similar trends for misinformation and disinformation across all the social media platforms that we monitor.

“Encouragingly, we’re also seeing signs that the AEC’s messages around misinformation and disinformation are making an impact, such as users in a prominent Telegram channel posting some of our AEC TV YouTube videos to debunk electoral myths being spread in the channel.”

The commission said false claims were being circulated online that Australians needed a COVID-19 vaccine to vote and political parties directed preferences.

Other prominent disinformation posts include that it’s possible to cast a ‘vote of no confidence’; that pencil marks are erased in the counting process; and that voting machines are used at the election, a claim rampant following the United States election when former president Donald Trump falsely claimed the poll had been rigged.

Rod Culleton, a former One Nation senator and current member of the Great Australian Party, claimed on social media in October that the AEC was “proposing the use of the same Dominion Voting Systems machines to count votes that are being used in America”. Culleton has 96,000 followers on Facebook, 11,000 on Telegram and 3500 on Twitter.

“You know the voting machines where the integrity of these machines is being questioned,” he wrote, adding that it was “another attack on our democracy”.

Liz Suduk, One Nation’s candidate for the Queensland seat of Blair held by Labor’s Shayne Neumann on a 1.2 per cent margin, earlier this month wrote on Facebook the federal election was “just around the corner, and there is a lot of debate surrounding its fairness”.

“Some people believe that the election will be fair, while others believe that it will be rigged,” she posted.

“However, there are a few things that everyone can do to ensure that the people who were voted for actually get to represent us down in Canberra. Firstly, use your preference voting to put the freedom candidates first and the majors last. Secondly, use a pen when you vote. This will ensure that your vote is valid and cannot be changed. Finally, fill in a stat dec and give it to a booth operator when you vote. This will help to keep the election fair and ensure that everyone’s voice is heard.”

The AEC has repeatedly stated polling officials are never alone with ballot papers and pencils are used to cast votes because they are cheaper and don’t run out of ink or smudge.

The electoral commission has created a disinformation register that outlines the most prominent baseless claims being circulated on social media and what action it has taken.

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