Keeping track of corporate interests behind third parties during election campaigns has been recommended by a federal inquiry to stamp out astroturfing.
Parliamentarians were told the practice of astroturfing – posing as grassroots organisations despite ties to political parties or lobby groups – was common during the 2025 federal poll.
The Australian government should also officially endorse the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change launched at COP30 in Brazil, a majority of Greens, Labor, Liberal and independent senators recommended.
The inquiry, led by Greens senator Peter Whish Wilson, found communities were experiencing a coordinated onslaught of anti-renewables messaging.
“Deliberate and deceptive campaigns that undermine information integrity on climate change and energy – or manipulate public discourse to obstruct policy – have stalled climate action, including the rollout of renewable energy in Australia,” he said.
Evidence of false and misleading claims about clean energy and climate change being disseminated by think tanks, PR firms, bloggers, media companies and third party fronts for fossil fuel interests was collected during the hearings.
Social media algorithms rewarding outrage to drive revenue and generative AI simplifying the creation of fake images and automated bot accounts were described as enablers.
Digital platforms should have responsibility for addressing and monitoring “psychosocial harms”, the committee recommended.
Setting up an “internet observatory” to track the hidden influence of digital ecosystems would further help improve transparency online.
Three senators lodged dissenting reports, including Nationals senator Matt Canavan.
The Nationals leader said the inquiry was used as “an attempt to bully and cajole people into silence”, including local communities opposed to large-scale renewables development in rural areas.
Labor senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah, deputy chair of the inquiry, said a tried-and-tested playbook from overseas had been imported into Australia.
“Against a backdrop of a global oil shock, concerted efforts to undermine renewables is eroding our energy resilience while pitting neighbour against neighbour in regional communities,” she said.
Climate denial still exists but has overwhelmingly been replaced by delay strategies, testified Australian National University political scientist Christian Downie.
Renewables are frequent targets of unsubstantiated claims, such as the widely debunked narrative that offshore wind turbines cause whale deaths.
Alarming, impassioned social media posts can have a chilling effect on the public who are far more likely to feel “confused” and “powerless” by the energy transition than angry, 89 Degrees East social researcher Rebecca Huntley told the hearing.
The Australian Security Leaders Climate Group has been calling for tougher measures on tech giants to fight the “climate disinformation war” threatening institutional trust, economic resilience and national security.
The group, led by former Australian Defence Force chief Admiral Chris Barrie, wants social media companies held accountable for disinformation on their platforms.