A coordinated foreign influence campaign linked to the Chinese government is using social media to undermine confidence in Australia’s democratic system, according to researchers at a Canberra-based defence thinktank.
The researchers believe the network is operating from within China and is either spreading disinformation about Australian politics or amplifying concerns about political scandals. They reference rape allegations made by the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and against the former attorney general Christian Porter, which he strongly denies.
The network is believed to have about 30 active accounts so far, which mostly appear to be women. In almost all cases, their posts use the #auspol and #QandA hashtags often used to discuss politics on Twitter. They post in English and Mandarin.
Albert Zhang, a disinformation analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the network is believed to be Spamouflage, a Chinese state-aligned foreign interference operation that has targeted many nations.
“What we’ve identified is a politically motivated campaign targeting the Australian political system by amplifying content about sexual assault and misconduct allegations in Parliament House and spreading disinformation about those cases in order to undermine trust in Australian politicians, politics and, ultimately, Australian democracy,” Zhang said.
“They are doing this by amplifying other people’s negative posts but also, at times, creating their own posts to spread disinformation.”
In 2019 Facebook attributed the network to Chinese state-linked actors and removed content designed to amplify division during protests in Hong Kong. The New York social media firm Graphika has also linked Spamouflage to attacks on CCP opponents and those critical of Beijing’s Covid-19 response.
Zhang and his colleague Jake Wallis believe the network began targeting the Australia political system late last year. So far, engagement with the accounts has been limited. The accounts seen by Guardian Australia have few followers and little traction.
Some have usernames like Kathleen, Sheila, Bianca and Barbara, followed by a series of random numbers. When written in English, some posts use Americanisms and reintroduce earlier scandals or disinformation into online discussions.
One post read “a congressional staff member with the pseudonym Tom broke the news to several Australian media: some congressional officials committed obscene and sexual acts in the Capitol and the methods were extremely disgusting and vile!”
The post appears to be a reference to a Coalition staffer who was sacked for allegedly masturbating over a female MP’s desk in March 2021, deepening a political crisis surrounding workplace culture at Parliament House.
Another post read: “Many members of Congress and government employees have sex in the Capitol, and the prayer room on the top floor is where they use it for fun #QandA #auspol.” The tweet references a real room at Parliament House that is often the subject of allegations.
One post, written in Mandarin, said the former prime minister Scott Morrison had apologised and “admitted that parliament was full of bullying, abuse and harassment”.
Wallis, who leads Aspi’s disinformation program, said it was inevitable that foreign interference campaigns would target Australian politics. He and Zhang have worked closely with Twitter and have a high degree of confidence that these accounts are linked to the CCP.
“We need to think about whether this requires a more robust policy response,” Wallis said.
“Currently it is being left to private companies but we need to think about whether there is a much stronger role for the government, because the interests of private companies are not the same as the interests of the Australian people.”
Twitter has been contacted for comment.
Aspi is an independent thinktank. More than half of its funding comes from either the Department of Defence or other federal government agencies. It has attracted the ire of Beijing, particularly for its research documenting human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
