Facebook disinformation campaign targets Australian politicians

A coordinated disinformation campaign is circulating on Facebook, falsely claiming that Australian Senator Pauline Hanson funded a documentary titled ‘Seeking the Truth, Finding Justice.’ The fabricated posts allege the program aims to launch legal action against several elites, including Senator Fatima Payman. Investigations have found no record of such a documentary or any connection to Senator Hanson or the One Nation party.

These falsehoods are being spread by a network of at least eight Facebook pages, including ‘Civic Lens’ and ‘Veridox Press,’ which appear to be run by foreign users. This activity highlights issues with Facebook’s content monetisation system, which allows creators to earn money based on engagement. Reports indicate that Meta has monetised accounts linked to white nationalist or anti-vaccine content, creating commercial incentives for ‘meme factories’ in countries such as Indonesia, India, and China to produce high-engagement, controversial content, sometimes targeting Australian political figures without direct knowledge of the subjects.