Pro-One Nation Facebook groups appear to be run by foreign ‘meme factories’ that monetise content
Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests several groups with thousands of members run by what expert calls ‘engagement farm’ operations in south-east Asia
TL;DR
- Several large Facebook groups supporting Australia's One Nation party appear to be run by foreign digital creators, predominantly from Indonesia.
- These groups are characterized as 'engagement farms' that monetize content and harvest Australian audiences for profit.
- Administrators and top posters are tagged as 'digital creators' and may earn money through Facebook's monetization programs.
- Content often includes 'outrage' or 'poll bait' posts, AI-generated material, and themes of Islamophobia.
- One administrator impersonating federal MP David Farley managed multiple groups, promoted cryptocurrency, and shared AI-generated content before the account was removed by Meta.
- Meta is reviewing content and will remove violations of its policies.