Disinformation in elections
When public debate is informed by facts and trustworthy sources, our democracy thrives. But right now, reasoned factual debate is being displaced by disinformation, and this shift is fundamentally eroding our democracy.
With the federal election less than six weeks away, 16 community, human rights and religious groups have joined forces to call on all candidates to refrain from misleading voters and commit to reforms to stop the spread of disinformation, which plagued the 2019 federal election and only became worse during the bushfires and the pandemic.
The organisations, including #OurDemocracy partners Australian Democracy Network and Human Rights Law Centre, have released a policy vision, outlining three key pledges we are urging politicians to make:
- To campaign honestly
- To commit to meaningful reforms to stop disinformation, and
- To develop laws to limit the spread of disinformation
Our Framework for a Fair Democracy calls for the introduction of standards of honesty in election campaigns. Currently, there are no laws that stop lying in political advertising: this must be fixed to rebuild trust in the political process.
Read the full policy vision and see the list of supporting organisations here.