Research organisation Reset Tech has tracked a network of Facebook pages that used AI-generated clips to impersonate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, opposition leader Angus Taylor, One Nation's Pauline Hanson, and many other political figures. The report, shared with the ABC, found roughly 10 per cent of the network's pages had been monetised through Facebook's content creator payment scheme, allowing the page owners to profit directly.
The content often focused on anti-migrant, anti-Muslim, or nationalistic themes, and baited users into participating in polls. Female politicians were frequently targeted with sexualised images and videos.
"This isn't foreign interference as we traditionally think of it," said Rys Farthing, chief research officer for Reset Tech. "What we see here is foreign influence for commercial motivations." He added that the operators would test which posts generated the most clicks and money, then create more of the same.
Senator Fatima Payman, a Muslim crossbencher, was falsely shown in an AI-generated clip saying: "Please don't deport me back to Afghanistan. It's not safe for me there. Vote no to support me." The post carried no apparent label indicating it was false or AI-generated.
Independent senator David Pocock was also targeted. He told the ABC he was not aware of the specific clip but his team had received "a bunch of deepfakes of me over the last few months." "I'm concerned deepfakes really undermine our democratic system," he said. "As humans, when we see someone say something, we generally believe that it's them saying it."