ABC News, 26 February 2019:
It became known as Mark
Zuckerberg's "apology tour" — a string of contrite appearances before
politicians in Washington and Brussels last year, where the Facebook founder
vowed to stop the spread of fake news and voter manipulation on his platform.
"From now on, every
advertiser who wants to run political or issue ads will need to be authorised.
To get authorised, advertisers will need to confirm their identity and
location," told a US Senate committee in April last year.
"We're starting in
the US and expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months."
But internal documents
obtained by the ABC reveal a very different message coming from Facebook's
Australian headquarters.
Just months after Mr
Zuckerberg's testimony, the social media giant was pushing back against efforts
by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to identify the users behind
potentially illegal political ads.
Almost a year later and
on the eve of the federal election, Facebook is yet to bring its new
authorisation rules for political ads to Australia.
The threat of political
interference on social media during the campaign has become so serious that the
AEC has warned Facebook and Twitter they face court-ordered injunctions if they
cannot remove illegal political ads.
Facebook's attitude
revealed in FOI documents
The surprisingly
informal, somewhat haphazard, relationship between the AEC and Facebook is laid
bare in a series of emails and other documents obtained as part of freedom of
information application.
The AEC contacted
Facebook after it became concerned about a mysterious group called Hands Off
Our Democracy, which was paying for sponsored posts attacking left-wing groups
and political parties last year.
On July 4 last year, AEC
lawyer Andrew Johnson told Facebook's senior counsel Sophie Malloch in an email
that the commission had received a complaint regarding Hands Off Our
Democracy's Facebook page, which "does not contain an authorisation to
indicate who is responsible for the page".
"Can you please
advise who is responsible for the Hands Off Our Democracy Page and their
contact details," Mr Johnson wrote.
"If this is not
possible, we ask that this Facebook page is blocked or removed until it
complies with the authorisation requirements in the Electoral Act."
Under changes introduced
to the act last year, all online advertisements that deal with electoral
matters must include the name and address of a person responsible for the ad.
The Hands Off Our
Democracy Facebook page carried no information about who was behind the group,
and a post on its own website made clear that its members had chosen to remain
anonymous.
Facebook initially
appeared willing to help the AEC make sure those ads carried the required
authorisation, but did not provide the AEC with any information about who was
behind the page.
"I passed this
along to our govt case work team as an urgent escalation to see what can be
done about this page, including whether it can be geoblocked until an
authorisation is included," Ms Malloch wrote in her reply to Mr Johnson.
But five days later, Ms
Malloch sent a follow-up email, brushing aside the AEC's concerns.
"The Hands Off
Democracy page appears to contain organic user content, rather than advertising
paid for through Facebook's online advertising process, and does not seem to
require authorisation," she wrote.
"If you have a
different view please let me know."
Mr Johnson responded by
sending a screenshot of a sponsored post by Hands Off Our Democracy, which
attacked The Greens and the activist group GetUp! and did not include the
correct authorisation.
"The Australian
Greens and GetUp! are against laws strengthening our national security. Why?
BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR FOREIGN DONATIONS," the ad reads.
Mr Johnson said the
screenshot indicated the group's page "has (or did have) sponsored
content".
A series of email
exchanges between Mr Johnson and Ms Malloch followed, in which the pair
discussed whether the page should carry authorisation information.
But before the AEC's
concerns were addressed, Hands Off Our Democracy's page disappeared from
Facebook.
Finally, on August 14 —
more than a month after the matter was raised with Facebook — Ms Malloch
conceded that the page was indeed paying for ads.
"It appears that
this page was removed by the administrator before we could take any action, but
yes you are correct — the "sponsored" posts were ads," she wrote….
Australians 'interested
in Donald Trump' targeted with ads.
Facebook is
investigating a complaint from Port Stephens Labor MP Kate Washington who
has alleged fake accounts are being used to manipulate the electoral
process.
Ms Washington has
written to the Clerk of the NSW Parliament calling for an investigation into
the four accounts, which she suspects may be controlled by a Liberal Party
supporter.
The accounts, which
appear to be owned by local constituents, have been posting in sync with
Liberal Party announcements in the Port Stephens electorate in recent weeks.
The Newcastle
Herald sent direct messages to the accounts on Monday morning seeking to
speak with account owners.
After advising a staff
member of Port Stephens Liberal Duty MLC Catherine Cusack of Ms Washington's
complaint at lunchtime on Tuesday three of the four accounts responded to
the Herald within an hour.
None of the profile
users was prepared to speak with the Herald.
One of accounts, which
appeared to be operated by a woman who said she had campaigned tirelessly for
residents in the Red Zone, was deleted on Tuesday afternoon.
Another account was
deleted on Wednesday night.
So-called social media
trolling and claims of harassment, from both major parties, have become common
place in recent state and federal election campaigns.
