{"id":531988,"date":"2026-03-10T22:50:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T22:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531988\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T22:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T22:50:29","slug":"foreign-facebook-accounts-using-ai-pauline-hanson-to-manipulate-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531988\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Facebook accounts using AI Pauline Hanson to manipulate Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"

“ALBANESE LOSES IT AS BARNABY JOYCE TEARS INTO HIM OVER NEW HATE SPEECH LAWS \u2014 LABOR’S CENSORSHIP AGENDA EXPOSED!”<\/p>\n

“Pauline Hanson and Lee Hanson unveil never-seen duet \u2014 a song connecting them across time.”<\/p>\n

“SHOCKING NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA: BILLIONAIRE GINA RINEHART FULLY SPONSORS THE EDUCATION OF THE CHILD PRODIGY WHO SAVED HIS FAMILY.”<\/p>\n

What do all of these stories have in common? None are real.<\/p>\n

\"A A fake news story involving One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce and Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.(Supplied)\"A This AI-generated image of Pauline and Lee Hanson appeared on a fake news post on Facebook.\"A A fake news story about mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

They’re part of a trove of Facebook posts created by overseas-based accounts that ABC NEWS Verify has examined in detail.<\/p>\n

The posts use a mix of AI-generated and genuine images combined with compelling but completely fake stories.<\/p>\n

They’ve attracted hundreds of thousands of likes, comments and shares \u2014 many from very real Australian voters who appear to believe the fake news they are being served.<\/p>\n

So you can understand how the accounts are using Australian politics to manipulate users, we’ve downloaded all the images from one week of posts from 14 of these accounts.<\/p>\n

NOTE: The images in this mosaic are a mix of human and artificially generated. When we show you an image up close, we’ll tell you if it’s AI-generated, but other AI images are not labelled.<\/p>\n

\"A A mosaic containing a raft of fake news images, some AI-generated.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

There are 370 images in this mosaic, taken from the week beginning February 7 and ending February 14.<\/p>\n

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is the main focus of the accounts.<\/p>\n

\"A\"A Senator Hanson appears in over half of the images.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

She appears in 191, or just over half, of the week’s posts.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at some of her adventures.<\/p>\n

Senator Hanson often appears engaging in acts of altruism.<\/p>\n

\"A An AI-generated image of Senator Hanson donating money to Austin Appelbee.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

Here she is in an AI-generated image giving an oversized novelty cheque to Austin Appelbee, the boy whose swimming heroism captivated the nation.<\/p>\n

It has been shared 275 times, with more than 11,000 reactions.<\/p>\n

Later in the week, a different account claimed Senator Hanson was battling cancer in another AI-generated image.<\/p>\n

\"A Fake news scammers depicted Senator Hanson as sick.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

Anger is a very common theme. Senator Hanson is often shown raging against other politicians and public figures.<\/p>\n

She is portrayed positively as a crusader, while her opponents are overwhelmingly cast negatively.<\/p>\n

Here she is with independent senator Fatima Payman, who the post erroneously labelled as a member of the Greens. These images appear to be genuine photographs, which have been stitched together.<\/p>\n

\"Pauline Senator Hanson is often pitted against other politicians.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

And here she is with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is a frequent target of the senator.<\/p>\n

\"Pauline Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a common opponent for Pauline Hanson.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

Speaking of the prime minister, he’s the second-most featured personality in the week we looked at.<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese appears in 93 posts.<\/p>\n

\"A\"A Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appears in 93 of the images.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

In 45 of those posts, he’s pitted against Senator Hanson in some way. None are supportive of Labor.<\/p>\n

\"A Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appears with Pauline Hanson in 45 images.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

The posts are often presented as “breaking news” or “live” to create a sense of urgency.<\/p>\n

\"Pauline Senator Hanson is often portrayed as the victor, while Mr Albanese is cast in a negative light.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

Mr Albanese is frequently painted in a negative light and portrayed as the loser of these battles.<\/p>\n

The third-most common public figure might surprise you.<\/p>\n

It’s Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, who is now a presenter and commentator on Sky News.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Credlin appears in the week’s dataset 63 times.<\/p>\n

\"A Peta Credlin appears in 63 of the posts.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

She has also been depicted as sick.<\/p>\n

\"Peta AI has been used to make fake news about Peta Credlin being sick.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

As well as in fake acts of philanthropy.<\/p>\n

\"Peta She has also been pictured in fake acts of philanthropy.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

And of course, in angry conflict with the prime minister.<\/p>\n

\"Peta AI was used to generate this image of the prime minister and Credlin fighting.(ABC NEWS Verify)<\/p>\n

ABC NEWS Verify examined 20 overseas Facebook pages, mostly administered from Vietnam, using these tactics to enrage and engage Australian Facebook users.<\/p>\n

Anne Kruger, a University of Queensland expert in countering false information on social media, told ABC NEWS Verify the algorithms serving content to users on social media were currently geared towards anger.<\/p>\n

She’d like to see the social media giants do better.<\/p>\n

“I think we have design engineers that can do more when it comes to flagging what is the quality information and leading people to that,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Why is it so easy to be led to the bottom feeders when it comes to content and those that are making money out of it? Can we please make it easier for people to actually find quality information?”<\/p>\n

Queensland University of Technology disinformation researcher Timothy Graham said there were likely many more similar accounts beyond what ABC NEWS Verify examined out there.<\/p>\n

“I would wager that this is the tip of the iceberg,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"\" A fake news story involving Peta Credlin and philanthropist George Soros.(Supplied)\"A Pauline Hanson and Penny Wong.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

Many commenters, who appeared to be genuine Australian accounts, seemed to believe the fake news they were being served.<\/p>\n

A unique mystery<\/p>\n

On the surface, a Facebook account with the name Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n paints a picture of a life of muted affluence in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Photos posted to the account show a man shopping and sitting in an opulent hotel foyer.<\/p>\n

\"A Dining.(Supplied)\"A Lounging.(Supplied)\"Facebook Shopping.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

The account is involved with running a page ABC NEWS Verify examined, called Unique Mystery.<\/p>\n

It appears to be generating fake news for money.<\/p>\n

Each post includes a link to a story on a fake news website, where users are served ads.<\/p>\n

It’s the same model for the vast majority of accounts that ABC NEWS Verify examined.<\/p>\n

Most of the accounts have at least one admin based in Vietnam listed in their transparency information. Some have admins in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the United States.<\/p>\n

Two accounts, Down Under Daily and Strength in Principle, were only established in January and immediately began pumping out Australian fake news.<\/p>\n

Others have been around for longer \u2014 some years \u2014 and had previously been creating fake news that targeted other countries. ABC NEWS Verify has been unable to connect any of the other fake news accounts to their administrators.<\/p>\n

In January, the Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n account also established a Facebook group called Team Pauline Hanson.<\/p>\n

The group has grown rapidly and many of its followers appear to be to real Australians.<\/p>\n

On February 19, it had around 3,000 members. It is now close to 50,000.<\/p>\n

ABC NEWS Verify sent questions to the Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n account but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n

How did we connect the Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n account to Unique Mystery?<\/a><\/p>\n

AI slop meets Australian politics<\/p>\n

AI slop refers to artificially generated content that is shallow in nature and created with the express purpose of driving engagement.<\/p>\n

The pages examined by ABC NEWS Verify have been using it to great effect. But they haven’t been using it just to target Australia.<\/p>\n

\"Pauline An AI-generated image of Pauline Hanson handing a cheque to a man named Carl.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

Here’s an AI-generated image of Senator Hanson supposedly giving a cheque to her high-school janitor (misspelled as “junction”) Carl.<\/p>\n

But this fake story is not new.<\/p>\n

\"Dolly An AI image of American singer Dolly Parton giving a cheque to a high school janitor.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

Here’s Carl receiving a cheque from singer Dolly Parton<\/p>\n

\"Kurt An AI-generated image of Kurt Russell giving an oversized cheque to a high school janitor.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

\u2026 actor Kurt Russell \u2026<\/p>\n

\"Novak An AI-generated image of tennis player Novak Djokovic giving a cheque to a high-school janitor.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

And tennis star Novak Djokovic, who appears to have made out the cheque to himself.<\/p>\n

Using Facebook’s search function, ABC NEWS Verify found many instances of recycled fake news ideas.<\/p>\n

Journalist Waleed Aly has been placed multiple times in conflict with Senator Hanson, Peta Credlin and even singer Barbra Streisand<\/p>\n

Bizarrely, they appear to have used a London news set as a backdrop.<\/p>\n

\"Three AI-generated Peter Credlin and Waleed Aly arguing on a British TV set.(Supplied)\"Three AI-generated Pauline Hanson and Waleed Aly arguing on a British TV set.(Supplied)\"Three AI-generated Barbara Streisand and Waleed Aly arguing on a British TV set.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

Dr Graham said this could be a sign of pages working together.<\/p>\n

“I do think there is clear indicators of coordinated, inauthentic behaviour \u2026 the template of the content reuse is probably the biggest signal giveaway.”<\/p>\n

Do you know more?Email Michael Workman at workman00<\/a>@protonmail.com<\/a> or Matt Martino at mattmartino@protonmail.com<\/a>If you require more secure communication, please choose an option on the confidential tips page<\/a>Stoking fear without celebrity<\/p>\n

One page, named Inside Australia, posted an AI-generated video of a woman, speaking in an Australian accent, railing against immigration.<\/p>\n

It appears to have used a similar prompt in this near-identical video of a woman railing against immigration in a British accent, against a backdrop of British flags and posted by a page called UK Diaries.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Inside Australia is one of two pages ABC NEWS Verify examined that does not link to an external website in its posts.<\/p>\n

Dr Graham said that the goal for these pages was likely different, pointing to Meta’s revenue sharing program, which pays creators for engagement.<\/p>\n

“I would be very surprised if those AI personas are not monetised,” he said.<\/p>\n

Meta did not respond to questions about whether any of the pages were being paid as part of its creator program.<\/p>\n

Fake news, real impacts<\/p>\n

ABC NEWS Verify contacted some of the Australian personalities featured to ask how they felt about being the subject of fake news.<\/p>\n

Senator Hanson and Peta Credlin both said they had been contacted by members of the public enquiring about their welfare.<\/p>\n

“These posts falsely claiming that myself and members of my family are suffering serious health issues (or in the case of my elderly Mum, have died) have been personally upsetting particularly for Mum,” Credlin told ABC NEWS Verify.<\/p>\n

\"A On the left, a genuine image of Peta Credlin and her mother. On the right, two AI-generated images.(Supplied)<\/p>\n

“I am staggered that so many people have seen these posts and assumed that they are factful \u2026 I am not on Facebook but many of my mother’s connections are, and she’s been devastated by what has been published.”<\/p>\n

A spokesman for One Nation called on the social media giants to do more.<\/p>\n

“Platforms are clearly not scrutinising the establishment of online accounts to the best of their ability, nor are they acting fast enough to suspend or take down accounts of those reported for suspicious behaviour,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If social media companies won’t act voluntarily to safeguard Australians from the onslaught of AI scams and malicious fake posts, it may require further legislative intervention.”<\/p>\n

Senator Payman accused the Labor government of a “lack of political will and leadership \u2026 to address this stream of disinformation and misinformation head-on”.<\/p>\n

“Either we get serious about standards to stop AI being weaponised in politics without guardrails, or we let the loudest outrage merchants set the tone.”<\/p>\n

ABC NEWS Verify sent questions to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Communications Annika Wells about whether the government had plans to address this issue.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the Department of Infrastructure provided a statement that did not respond directly and instead pointed towards fact-checking and media literacy initiatives that the government had funded.<\/p>\n

Some pages down, but plenty more remain<\/p>\n

After ABC NEWS Verify contacted Meta, it took down most \u2014 but not all \u2014 of the pages we highlighted for violating its inauthentic behaviour policies.<\/p>\n

Meta said it was constantly enforcing against inauthentic behaviour using a combination of manual enforcement and automated systems, telling ABC NEWS Verify in a statement that it was still “investigating the content” for any violations of Meta policy.<\/p>\n

As those investigations by Meta continue, ABC NEWS Verify has identified even more fake political news accounts since the company was made aware of this story.<\/p>\n

Senator Payman said Meta should do more.<\/p>\n

“If platforms like Meta can detect copyrighted music in seconds, they can certainly detect coordinated AI-generated smear pages. The question is whether they want to when there is no imperative to?”<\/p>\n

CreditsResearch and reporting: Michael Workman<\/a>Research, reporting, design and digital production: Matt Martino<\/a>Fact-checking and editing: Lucy Carter<\/a>Design: Devi MallalHow did we connect the Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n account to Unique Mystery?<\/p>\n

The Facebook group Team Pauline Hanson was established in January this year. Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n is listed as the account that established the group.<\/p>\n

Unique Mystery was listed first as the administrator of the page.<\/p>\n

The Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n account was also listed as an administrator, alongside another account named Quang Tr\u01b0\u01a1ng and two other profiles that appear to be dummy accounts.<\/p>\n

The two dummy accounts post fake news content that links to the same fake news website that Unique Mystery links to in its posts.<\/p>\n

Tr\u1ea7n T\u00e2n, Quang Tr\u01b0\u01a1ng and one of the dummy profiles are listed as administrators on three other fake news pages, which all target the US, including one called Team Melania Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“ALBANESE LOSES IT AS BARNABY JOYCE TEARS INTO HIM OVER NEW HATE SPEECH LAWS \u2014 LABOR’S CENSORSHIP AGENDA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,128923,132377,254,255,64,63,40385,158398,167241,128181,52676,60504,14754,264126,105],"class_list":["post-531988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-ai-image","tag-ai-generated","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fake-news","tag-false","tag-fatima-payman","tag-lidia-thorpe","tag-misinformation","tag-one-nation","tag-pauline-hanson","tag-peta-credlin","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}