Monitoring political misinformation and disinformation on Chinese-language platforms

Chinese-language social media platforms like WeChat, RedNote (Xiaohongshu), and YouTube are an important way for Chinese Australians to access news and information. These platforms circulate both textual and visual content that can influence the political views and decision-making of Chinese Australian voters – a demographic representing 5.5% of Australia's population.

However, political information shared on these platforms is often fragmented, circulated within small social networks, and highly targeted, making it difficult for outsiders to identify and assess.

Our project monitors and analyses electoral information shared on these platforms in the lead-up to the 2025 Australian federal election. Using a combination of manual monitoring and computational tools, we will conduct real-time fact-checking on identified political misinformation and disinformation.

Tackling disinformation is crucial for communities whose first language is not English. Migrant communities often face challenges in accessing accurate political information communicated in English, and inadequate or ineffective outreach from public agencies. In addition, social media services often operate beyond Australian regulatory reach. Large-scale monitoring of misinformation is challenging, as current automated or AI tools struggle to detect visual elements or subtleties embedded within disinformation narratives, particularly when these tools are predominantly trained in English and for American platforms.

Our research focuses on understanding the political messaging and campaigning communicated to Chinese Australian voters, identifying types of misinformation and disinformation circulated, and examining community responses to Chinese-language political communication on WeChat, RedNote, and YouTube.

MDAP's technical expertise will be crucial in developing computational tools to support effective reporting of political misinformation, disinformation, and advertisements. Additionally, MDAP will assist in assessing the impact of misleading content and in creating an interactive, inclusive, and accessible data-sharing tool to communicate our findings the public, policymakers, and community members

This collaboration will help us develop practical strategies and tools that provide the Chinese Australian community, public agencies, and stakeholders with up-to-date insights to facilitate both government-led and community-based interventions.

The project's outcomes will include a practical knowledge base and civics education tools tailored for Chinese-speaking communities in Australia. These resources will empower community members to identify and counter political disinformation, ultimately supporting informed political decision-making and enhancing strategies for improving political communication among Australian voters.