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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Anne Davies and Wing Kuang

Unattributed attack ads targeting Labor on Chinese-language WeChat fuel fears of election misinformation

WeChat logo on phone. Highly misleading ads about the Labor party with no attribution or authorisation are spreading on social media service WeChat in the leadup to the 2022 Australian federal election.
Highly misleading ads about the Labor party with no attribution or authorisation are spreading on social media service WeChat in the leadup to the 2022 Australian federal election. Photograph: Rafael Henrique/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

Attack ads targeting Labor are being published without any authorisation or party attribution on the Chinese-language social networking platform, WeChat, raising concerns that misinformation could be circulating without oversight.

The advertisements, which include false suggestions Labor’s policies involve a raft of new taxes, appear on the WeChat site of Chinese-language media outlet Australian Financial News, alongside highly flattering articles about the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.

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