Nationals accuse Google of election 2022 interference with ad ban

The Nationals have accused Google of interfering with the federal election by suspending their YouTube account just days before polling.

YouTube and its American partner company have been accused of interfering in the Australian federal election after they suspended an account used by the National party for campaigning when they tried to run an ad criticising Labor’s climate policies in the Hunter Valley.

The ad, which featured clips of senior Labor figures including Chris Bowen and Penny Wong explaining their carbon policy as well as retiring Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon saying it is correct to call their policy a “carbon tax”, led to the party being told their account was being suspended.

A still from the ad the Nationals say got their account banned.

The Nationals had planned to run the ad in the Hunter Valley where they say Labor’s policies put coal mining jobs at risk when they received the suspension notice.

Nationals figures told The Daily Telegraph that they believed Google was suppressing factual information on the eve of an election and trying to shut down a debate about a policy they say will have enormous ramifications across the Hunter Valley.

Senator Matt Canavan during the Bowen Pipeline announcement in Bowen. Location: Bowen, QLD Picture: Brad Hunter, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

“This is an outrageous suppression of Australia’s democratic debate by a foreign company,” said Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, who added that the ad and website it directed viewers to were fully authorised in line with AEC requirements.

“Labor has been at pains to hide their plans for a carbon tax from the workers of the Hunter Valley.”

“But an American social media company shouldn’t be doing Labor’s work for them,” he said.

A Google spokesman said that the account was suspended because it was not “verified”, which is required to post political ads.

“As Google has consistently shared with parties and candidates, all election advertisers need to be verified,” the spokesman said.

“Verification is designed to ensure greater transparency of political ads and who is behind them — and is just one example of how Google is helping protect election integrity.

“Ahead of election day, Google is continuing to roll out products and programs to help people participate and stay informed, protect election integrity, and help campaigns manage their digital presence.”

Originally published as Nationals accuse Google of election 2022 interference with ad ban