Influenced: How politics intersected with social media this week
More than ever before, this federal election campaign is largely playing out on social media. This is the influence content creators had on the trail this week.
AEC releases influencer guidelines
Following the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) determining that Abbie Chatfield’s podcast interviews with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Greens leader Adam Bandt did not require an authorisation, it released additional guidance for influencers, podcasters and content creators.
It specified that communication only needs an authorisation if it’s paid advertising, gifts-in-kind are used or the material is communicated on behalf of a political entity.
There was a focus on cross-posting, which is when an influencer and a political figure “collaborate” on a social media post, making it appear on both collaborator’s accounts. Essentially, cross-posting does require an authorisation if posted by a political entity (a party, candidate or associated entity such as a union), but it is the responsibility of the politician, not the influencer.
Influencer claims Liberal Party misrepresented her
Content creator Holly MacAlpine, known on Instagram and TikTok as hollyunmuted, created a video with Greens Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters. In the video, Holly said apparent misconceptions about the Greens and Waters tried to debunk them. The Liberal party seized the opportunity to edit the clips of Holly and use them for their own political advertising.
The original video, the news traction it received after Holly’s response that she’d been misrepresented, and subsequent videos from Holly saying the Liberal party is using “high school mean girl tactics” have spotlighted the fact that election laws don’t regulate truth.
A glance at Holly’s page makes it clear she’s endorsed the Greens this election, but this story has made her the face of a lesson to young voters that you can’t trust politically authorised videos.
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When Abbie met Jacqui
Abbie Chatfield’s latest political interview on her podcast It’s A Lot was Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie. Lambie and Abbie discussed the politician’s passion for veteran affairs, cuts to the NDIS, the senator’s history with Clive Palmer and his United Party, and mental health policy.
The episode begins with Abbie telling Lambie she “confuses the Australian public” on where she stands on the political spectrum, to which Lambie replies that for her, “it’s not about left and right, it’s about right and wrong”.
Lambie said on the podcast that in this election, she wants to see the Albanese Labor Government hold on because a lot of the work they’ve done in their three-year term so far is rebuilding after nine years of a Liberal National Coalition. She believes the Coalition’s problem is that they don’t believe they’ve been in Opposition for three years, and don’t have a strong platform to run on.
Lambie and Abbie have a good rapport, bonding over their separate appearances on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and their shared disdain for Liberal senator Jane Hume, who prompted the AEC “probe” into Abbie’s podcast needing authorisation and was on the receiving end of Lambie’s angry questioning in Senate Estimates.
Lambie comes off as likeable and the format feels far more relaxed, making it a natural fit for Abbie’s podcast feed and a more compelling listen than her interview with Albanese weeks prior.
Lib candidate dropped after podcast appearance
Former paratrooper Ben Britton is now running as an independent for NSW’s seat of Whitlam after being dropped from the Liberal party over resurfaced comments he made on a podcast.
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Britton’s comments included that the Australian education system “brainwashed” students and that women should not serve in combat roles with the Australian Defence Force. He claims women shouldn’t be able to serve because their hips can’t handle it.
The debate about whether women should be allowed to serve in combat was in the news overseas last November after US President Donald Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, made similar claims. Perhaps Britton’s taking a page out of the US playbook?
Britton has since accused “faceless men” of making up lies and coordinating a “witch hunt” against him.
Speaking of Liberal reluctance to podcast opportunities, Peter Dutton was called out by youth media company The Daily Aus this week for turning down an interview opportunity and their pitch for the first ever youth media moderated leaders debate – something Albanese said he was on board for.
Predating the campaign, Dutton has appeared on Straight Talk with Mark Bouris and Diving Deep with Australian Olympic diver turned political podcaster Sam Fricker, so we can’t say he’s disinterested in the new media approach but is more selective with his appearances.
Advance pays to promote FriendlyJordies’ video
Advance, a right-wing lobby group, has been running Facebook Ads through a Facebook page dubbed ‘Election News’ – one of six Facebook pages they run with names like “Greens Trust” and “Albanese is Weak, Woke and Sending us Broke”. Through its Election News page, they’ve been paying to boost a FriendlyJordies video from November 2024 with the title “Labor is too WOKE”.
There is nothing to suggest Advance is collaborating with content creator Jordan Shanks-Markovina (aka FriendlyJordies), just that Advance is paying to promote the video. When you click on the video, the headline becomes “The Liberals WILL Privatise Medicare” and the video description includes “watch more videos to learn about how bad the Liberal Party are” with a link to other content.
A quick look back on internet archive the WayBack Machine shows that this was not always the title or description of the video. As recently as March 17, the title was in fact “Labor is too WOKE” so perhaps Jordan caught on and changed the title and description of the video after Election News started pushing it out on March 28.
Video of the week
Milly Rose Bannister has been supporting NSW member Allegra Spender on the trail for reelection with a range of videos and speaking engagements.
The latest video from Milly is not her most viewed, or even her most on trend (I’ve been told by my more online colleagues that this trend has been circulating for about a month), but nonetheless her “petting my dog based on how much I like the policy” has started a conversation in the newsroom, and therefore I’m crowning it video of the week.
The video, made in collaboration with Climate 200, stars Milly’s dog Frankie paired with a viral audio listing desserts that might have left some viewers scratching their heads. Nonetheless, it shows Climate 200 are looking for voters online. Though the podcast appearance is a new media version of long-form interviewing, and we still see a newer, better edited version of an endorsement packaged up in an Instagram reel, this video exemplifies the more niche ways election campaigning is showing up online.
