Wong says One Nation must explain foreign influencer campaign

Australia’s foreign minister says One Nation must explain “explosive developments” that a surge in social media support for Pauline Hanson is coming from accounts in Indonesia, as Hanson says she has complained to Meta about the accounts.

Earlier this week, A Current Affair revealed hundreds of foreign influencers were behind a campaign of pro-Hanson posts on Facebook, some posting to groups of more than 100,000 accounts.

It could be the first time Indonesian “buzzers” – digital labourers available for hire through a shadowy industry used to influence political campaigns – have been deployed on Australian politics.

One Nation denied having anything to do with the Indonesian posts supporting the party, labelling it “deliberate foreign interference in Australian politics”.

Sources within Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said there was no evidence to substantiate claims of “foreign state actor involvement”.

A spokesperson for Penny Wong referred to One Nation’s own recent admissions it had hired virtual assistants for candidates in the Philippines.

The minor party told news.com.au last month it had used foreign virtual assistants to create “150 candidate pages all at once” during election campaigns.

“There is already evidence of One Nation paying people from other countries as part of its digital campaigning,” Wong’s spokesperson said.

“It is for One Nation to explain these explosive developments.”

In Canberra on Wednesday night, Hanson said she was shocked when the issue was raised with her, and believed the people behind the posts were chasing money “using my name which gets clicks”.

“These companies are piggybacking on One Nation because they’re high numbers that I have,” Hanson said.

Some of the posts ask specific, targeted questions directly about Australian politics – unusual in an “engagement farming” model, where posters are simply paid per view.

On Tuesday, a post from one of the Indonesian accounts asked its audience what they believed “caused a drop in the polls for One Nation?”

“You are the voters. What happened?” read the post, uploaded about 24 hours after the latest Redbridge poll results showing a drop in support for the party.

One Nation claimed it was “the responsibility of the Minister for Foreign Affairs” to raise further questions with the governments of the countries involved.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has been asked for a response, but requests have so far been declined.

In the past seven months, Indonesian-controlled Facebook pages supporting Hanson have emerged, finding a rapidly growing Australian audience.

One page has 117,000 members with all three administrators based in Indonesia and dozens of posts daily supporting One Nation.

Some of the content targets Muslims, yet it is being posted by Indonesian accounts often featuring a profile picture of a woman wearing an Islamic headscarf.

One post claimed “Muslims won’t come to Australia if One Nation wins power”. Others have more volatile messaging that could potentially violate Indonesia’s strict blasphemy laws preventing public expressions of hostility or hatred towards religion.

A Current Affair messaged around 25 different Indonesian Facebook accounts supporting One Nation and failed to receive a single reply, though one account removed a video that had been questioned.

The role of “buzzers” can be a controversial occupation in Indonesia, with one arrested last year in Jakarta for impeding a corruption investigation.

Hanson said her party had complained to Meta about the issue but did not have further information regarding its response.

“You’ll have to talk to the CEO of One Nation. I’m doing my parliamentary duties,” Hanson said.

“I don’t do the administrative side and besides I’m flat out sometimes using my phone properly, let alone going with this technology.”

Meta has been contacted for comment.

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