Chinese social media platform RedNote a new battleground ahead of federal election
Author
Date 24 March 2025
As Australia approaches its federal election, concerns are mounting over the spread of misinformation and disinformation on Chinese social media platform RedNote or known as the little red book for Mandarin-speakers. RedNote is a platform increasingly used by Australian politicians to connect with Chinese Australians.
In addition to informational and educational content, deepfake videos, political-or-commerical-driven misleading content, and shadow banning are emerging as key issues in the digital landscape, raising alarm over the integrity of online political discourse.
In a recent investigation, the ABC uncovered a deepfake video featuring a manipulated clip of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaking Mandarin on RedNote.
The video uses legitimate footage from an interview where Dutton discusses the Indigenous flag, but AI has altered it to make it appear as though he is speaking Mandarin. In the video, Dutton appears to suggest that Indigenous flags should not be displayed at press conferences, a claim that is misleading and taken out of context.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society researchers Dr Fan Yang, from Melbourne University and Dr Robbie Fordyce from Monash University discussed the issue in an interview on ABC’s World Today.
Dr Fan Yang studies Australian political information on Chinese-language social media services and warns that such deepfake videos are not isolated incidents. She notes that other misleading content has spread on the platform, such as videos implying the Albanese government is arresting temporary migrants and commercial-driven threatening messages about Australia’s new policies on immigration and housing.
In these cases, the videos are often taken out of context, with captions misrepresenting the events.
Further complicating matters, Dr Yang points out the lack of official voices, such as those from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on RedNote to prebunk and debunk false or misleading information; and that the narrow scope of what public agencies classify as “misinformation” and “disinformation” limits their capacity for effective intervention. She highlights troubling instances of shadow banning, where Australian politicians’ accounts and content are hidden from Chinese Australian users.
“If you search for the name of a politician, you wouldn’t even be able to find their account,” Dr Yang explains.
“This raises concerns that Chinese Australians are being exposed to an increasingly one-sided view of political events.”
Following the publication of an ABC investigative report, on 24 March, ADM+S affiliated PhD researcher Dan Dai identified platform intervention of the latest content in relation to the hashtags #澳大利亚大选 or #澳洲大选（meaning Australian election) on RedNote. No recent content appears in search results for the term.
The impact of misinformation on Chinese Australians became particularly apparent during last year’s Voice referendum, with many expressing anxiety over the potential constitutional changes. The research team has released an interim report on the issue.
Dr Robbie Fordyce notes that misinformation often exploited existing fears among migrant communities, portraying the referendum as granting undue power to Indigenous Australians, which in turn would disadvantage migrant communities.
“They were interpreting the referendum as giving Indigenous Australians massive constitutional power, which would subordinate other groups,” Fordyce explained.
Although experts have raised questions about the potential influence of international actors, such as the Chinese government, Dr Fordyce stressed that their research found no evidence of a coordinated campaign to manipulate the platform for political purposes, aside from the influence of Chinese internet governance, which regulates permissible discussions.
Despite this, he acknowledged that existing fear and concerns often drive people to share misleading content.
Experts agree that better access to reliable, Chinese-language journalism could alleviate some of these issues.
Dr Fordyce believes that providing accurate, well-researched news could help Chinese Australians better navigate the complex political landscape.
“[With sufficient funding and support], if there was a rich Chinese language news source with good journalistic ethics, that could address concerns and provide correct information, it would really help these people,” he said.
In response to growing concerns, an AEC spokesperson assured that the commission is continuously monitoring the social media environment to engage with voters, despite limited resources.
As Australian politicians continue to use RedNote and WeChat as a tool to engage with Chinese Australians, the integrity of information on the platform remains a critical issue, with both misinformation and the silencing of political voices posing significant challenges to the upcoming election.
This project is led and conducted by Dr Fan Yang, with research assistance from Dan Dai, Stevie Zhang, and Mengjie Cai at the University of Melbourne, and co-led by Dr Robbie Fordyce at Monash University and Dr Luke Heemsbergen at Deakin University. Between 2024 and 2025, the project is funded by the Susan McKinnon Foundation.
