Foreign accounts boost One Nation support on Facebook

New Facebook groups supporting One Nation have appeared in the past seven months, with administrators based in Indonesia and content posted daily. One group has grown to 117,000 members while posting material that targets Muslim communities, including calls to close mosques in Australia.

The posts are identical across multiple accounts and sometimes include instructions directing users to ask specific questions. Some accounts use profile images of women wearing Islamic headscarves while sharing content that states Muslims would avoid Australia if One Nation gained power.

Coordinated activity An ANU researcher who studies disinformation in south-east Asia described the operation as part of an influence industry that hires teams to manage accounts created over years. The same accounts have posted the same images and text across different pages, suggesting centralized direction rather than individual interest.

A Current Affair contacted about 25 Indonesian accounts posting the material and received no replies. One account removed a questioned video after contact.

response A One Nation spokesperson stated the party has no involvement with the accounts and views the activity as foreign interference. The spokesperson noted the party has no jurisdiction over accounts operating in other countries. The spokesperson added that One Nation has used virtual assistants based in the Philippines for candidate support but said those arrangements are unrelated to the Facebook groups.

A pollster from RedBridge Group said One Nation has gained close to three million additional voters in recent polling and described the increase as a rapid rise over six months.