2023-2024 Seminar and Conference Series
Background Reading
Background Reading 1
The first item is an click here ➡️ ABC news article on the the Australian Electoral Commission’s efforts in combatting misinformation and disinformation in the constitutional change referendum held on 14 October 2023 to recognise indigenous Australians and establish a representative “voice” to Parliament. The referendum result rejected the proposed constitutional change. Taking account of the AEC’s experience in this referendum and the 2022 federal election, it is arguable that electoral commissions should have no reluctance in assertively combatting misinformation and disinformation where it is directed at discrediting the electoral process overseen by an electoral commission. That said, despite these efforts, it seems increasingly difficult for voters to distinguish between authentic information and false claims or deliberately misleading content. Electoral commissions cannot do it alone - commissions will need partners to effectively combat "the problem”.
Background Reading 2
One of those partners will be social media platforms — X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram etc. The second item: click here ➡️ How do platforms respond to user-reports of electoral process misinformation is a recent study conducted on Australia’s experience with social media companies' response to user reports of electoral process misinformation. It is also quite topical as it describes Australia's experience with the recent referendum on constitutional recognition of indigenous persons. A sobering finding is that despite the social media companies signing-on to a code of practice there is little evidence of proactive attempts to remove misleading or false content. Just how social media platforms can be encouraged to become more proactive is an important consideration for our discussions.
Background Reading 3
Another partner will be government. The final paper: click here ➡️ How and why to regulate false political advertising in Australia is an academic research paper from Adelaide University on legislative regulation of false political advertising in Australia. There are only two jurisdictions in Australia with specific legislation in place dealing with truth in political advertising — South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Chapters 9 and 10 — "Implementation Lessons" and “Recommendations" respectively — are worth reading. South Australia’s legislation was introduced in 1985, some 38 years ago, and gives responsibility for regulating truth in political advertising to the State’s electoral commission. No other jurisdiction had adopted similar legislation, including at the federal level, until the Australian Capital Territory in 2021. Despite the apparent reluctance of electoral commissions taking on this responsibility, considering Australia’s history, and the likelihood that misinformation and disinformation will only become more problematic for all election stakeholders, the prospect of similar legislation being progressively introduced at all levels of government is high, with electoral commissions seemingly the “obvious choice” to administer the legislation.