AEC celebrates successful disinformation partnerships with online media platforms
With the 2022 federal election at an end, the Australian Electoral Commission is highlighting the success of its work with online media platforms to protect and promote electoral integrity in Australia.
The announcement:
The Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers commented on the AEC’s work with the online platforms.
“Despite the best efforts of a small number of actors, the AEC saw much lower levels of electoral mis and disinformation this election than in other likeminded democratic elections across the globe.”
“We know Australians will not tolerate this type of content circulating and trying to undermine public confidence in our elections. I’m pleased to say the success of the AEC’s relationships with online platforms has made a big difference to this” Rogers said.
“The low levels of misinformation and disinformation we’ve seen this year are a great result for the AEC’s Reputation Management Strategy. It also reflects the hard work of the members of the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce and the administrators of the online platforms used by Australians.”
In preparation for the 2022 federal election, the AEC engaged with online platforms to protect and promote electoral integrity online. A written agreement reflecting these efforts was finalised between the AEC, Meta, Twitter, Google, Microsoft and TikTok. This agreement established a framework for detailed operational arrangements allowing the AEC and the Taskforce to refer harmful electoral content to online platforms for consideration and removal, where content was in breach of relevant legislation or the platform’s own policies.
“The AEC acknowledges the support we received from online platforms to combat misinformation, and their assistance in maintaining the integrity of the 2022 federal election. We look forward to continuing this engagement for future Australian elections,” Rogers said.
The AEC also worked with online platforms on public engagement and education initiatives, including interactive election hubs, key election date reminders, and the promotion of informative AEC content such as the AEC website, AECTV YouTube channel and AEC Twitter.
Source: AEC
