The Labor Party’s new portal for Australians to report misinformation on political issues has been immediately used by critics to report the ALP’s own political ads for fact-checking purposes.
The ALP was launched The page on its website, encouraging party members and supporters to report political “misinformation” through an online form.
“It is important for the Party to be aware of the sources of disinformation so that we can respond quickly,” the site reads.
To submit a report, users must enter their name, email address and details of the misinformation, including the social media platform involved in the report.
There is also the option to submit evidence and links to the disinformation page.
Young pro-nuclear activist Will Shackel told his online followers that he had denounced the party’s own nuclear ads for misinformation.
“The Labour Party has just set up a website to report disinformation – I just reported on something. The irony is quite extreme,” he wrote on X.
Mr Shackel attached a New South Wales Labor Party advertisement warning Australians: “Peter Dutton wants to build nuclear power plants across Australia.”
The ALP launched a portal to ‘combat disinformation’ but it has been used by the party’s critics
Student nuclear activist Will Shackel used the site to denounce the Labour Party’s own political ads.
The ad featured a stylised image of nuclear cooling towers behind the Sydney Opera House, accompanied by the slogan “Stop nuclear power coming to you”.
Cooling towers are often used to diffuse heat from nuclear power plants in the form of white vapor.
Metadata reveals that the ad was viewed between 30,000 and 35,000 times on Facebook between April 21 and May 2, 2024.
The announcement’s claim about the opposition’s nuclear plan contradicts the proposal for seven nuclear development sites announced by Dutton in July.
None include the general Sydney area.
New South Wales Labor Party advertisements showed nuclear cooling towers rising behind iconic landmarks in the state.
The ad shared by Mr Shackel was one of several similar ads produced by the New South Wales Labor Party.
Other announcements were made in different regions of Sydney and the rest of New South Wales.
The ads featured landscapes from the Hunter region, Northern Rivers and the state’s south coast.
Others featured cityscapes of Newcastle, the Illawarra and various Sydney suburbs.
Many shared variations of anti-nuclear slogans on images of cooling towers towering over iconic New South Wales landmarks.
Some commentators agreed with Mr Shackel’s sentiment and were disparaging of the Labour Party’s campaign.
“Excellent, thanks Will, I’ll be sure to report any Labour Party posts I find so you can investigate for yourself. As I’m a person of high integrity and totally transparent so far, I’m sure everything will be fine,” one wrote sarcastically.
Others suggested they would use the portal to similar effect.
Shadow Energy Minister Ted O’Brien criticised the Albanian government’s “hypocrisy”
However, not everyone echoed his outrage.
“How can this be ‘misinformation’? It’s a slogan, you idiot,” wrote another user on X.
Shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien told Sky News the disinformation site displayed “extreme hypocrisy”.
“The Albanese government’s displays of virtue as a barometer of morality while blatantly lying are an act of extreme hypocrisy,” O’Brien said.
‘Whether it’s falsely implying that nuclear cooling towers emit mushroom-shaped smoke… Dan Repacholi and Jacinta Allen posting images of three-eyed fish or (Chris) Bowen using a photo of yellow barrels on grassy hills to represent nuclear waste storage.’
The Australian Labor Party has been contacted for comment.