A research paper accessed by 9news.com.au reveals numerous instances of misleading or incorrect political content on Mandarin-language platforms such as WeChat and RedNote, compiled over a five-year span.

The RECapture project, spearheaded by Dr. Fan Yang from the University of Melbourne, discovered overstated or false information regarding both major political parties on these platforms.

This misinformation is often driven by protagonists with a commercial interest., in particular migration, real estate and education agencies.

The platforms: WeChat and RedNote

WeChat is the primary social media service for Mandarin speakers around the world and is used by more than 70 per cent of Chinese Australians.

But the recent rise of RedNote, or Xiaohongshu – think China’s answer to Instagram – has also led to a rise in disinformation narratives targeting migrant communities.

Yang said disinformation narratives identified on RedNote were “quite similar” to those on WeChat, but the volume of misleading content was “double or even triple”.

The AEC confirmed it was aware of the issue on RedNote and has “already received a number of referrals from Australian RedNote users about electoral content for the upcoming federal election”.

“The AEC assesses and, when appropriate, actions referrals made by users of social media platforms,” a spokesperson said.

Who is behind disinformation narratives?

A “significant amount” of misleading content is commercially driven, Yang said.

Yang and the RECapture research team identified migration, real estate and education agencies exploiting election policies to monetise fears and anxieties within the Chinese migrant communities for business gain.

“They have been playing a big part in manipulating the line of policies or manipulating a specific line of Australian politicians to distribute commercially driven disinformation,” Yang said.

“Elections mean social change is going to happen, so that also opens up the opportunity for those migration agencies or those business entities to … exploit those anxieties from the public for their own business gain.”

As an example, one video posted to RedNote last month suggested Immigration minister Tony Burke was keen on cancelling visas.

The caption implored Chinese migrants to apply for permanent residency before immigration policies are tightened, backed up by a business pitch from a migration agent.

The AEC does not currently have an active presence on WeChat or RedNote, but said it was “able to investigate content on these platforms if it is referred to us”.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) told 9news.com.au it “does not have a formal regulatory role in misinformation or disinformation” and does not monitor it during elections.