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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Henry Belot and Wing Kuang

Candidates using influencers to bypass ‘shadow ban’ on campaigning by Chinese social media app Rednote

Screengrab from the Rednote account of Lankey Liu (‘Sydney Mama Lankey’) picturing John Howard, former Australian prime minister, and the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung, in March 2025.
Screengrab from the Rednote account of Lankey Liu (‘Sydney Mama Lankey’) picturing John Howard, former Australian prime minister, and the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung, in March 2025. Photograph: Rednote

Chinese-language influencers who mostly post lifestyle content are interviewing election candidates on the social media app Rednote, allowing politicians to bypass an apparent “shadow ban” on campaigning by the app and reach a disengaged but vital audience.

The interviews with influencers who usually post about food, real estate and shopping have been published on a platform that is not actively monitored by the Australian Electoral Commission due to Rednote’s scale and the commission’s resources.

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