Engaging with electoral campaign material

Candidates, political parties and other campaigners may send you electoral campaign material about their views or policies to influence your vote.

It is up to you to decide if you are persuaded by this material. This may include thinking about the possibility that the material has been artificially enhanced or created.

Ask yourself these questions when engaging with electoral campaign material:

  • Is it from a reliable source?
  • Is it current?
  • Is it authorised?
  • Is it coming from a real person and not a 'bot'?
  • Who is paying for it?
  • Is it designed to make you feel emotional?

You can also check our misinformation register to see all the electoral misinformation we have discovered: 

Misinformation register

Find out more below, watch our sort fact from fiction video, or read our Easy English guide (PDF).

Fact from fiction

Social media can help you find out what candidates and parties stand for, but you need to know how to sort fact from fiction because you can't trust everything you see on your feed.
Video transcript

Elections can generate lots of differing views and opinions, and your social media feeds might be filled with posts and ads about the election.

Social media is a popular way to talk about the election and see different sides of a debate.

It can help you find out what candidates and parties stand for, but you need to know how to sort fact from fiction because you can't trust everything you see on your feed.

Just remember that on social media, anyone can share their views, and that includes people or groups trying to spread false information or who just get it wrong.

Here are some steps you can take to make sure the information that is informing your vote is correct.

First, always look for a source on any news you see. Is it from a source you know and trust? If it isn't, do some online digging and check out the person or organisation behind the post.

After you've done that, have a look at the number of real followers the account has. Does it have a lot of bots following it? That might indicate that the source can't be trusted.

Another thing to ask could be, is this an opinion piece? Is it balanced? You should also ask yourself why it's been posted and what the author might gain by putting forward only one side of the story.

Does a political ad make you excited or furious? Inflammatory or sensational posts get more engagement on social media so advertisers are more likely to use extreme language to reach more people.

They might also use micro-targeting to show you ads based on your location, age or political interests.

If it's a political ad, has it been authorised? This means that the person or group behind the ad has clearly stated their contact details, rather than hiding behind an anonymous account.

If after all of this you're still unsure about the information, check out our website – a source of election information you can absolutely trust.

Don't contribute to the spread of nasty fiction or incompetent research. And remember, you can report anything you think is misinformation to all the social media platforms now.

Sort fact from fiction this election and know that you'll be casting an informed vote.

Evaluating campaign material

  • Check the source

    Is the information published by a person or organisation with a reputation for accurate reporting? Or is it difficult to find the source at all?

    Information that seeks to mislead people is often from a website or news source that you've never heard of. If you're unsure, see if you can find a similar story from a source you trust.

  • Check the date
    Make sure any information you are consuming about an election is current. Information that is more than 6 months old might not have all the latest facts.
  • Check for authorisation
    Has the person who wants to share this information put their name to it? Messages that seek to influence how people vote must include an authorisation statement. If there is no authorisation statement, the information might not be reliable.
  • Check who is spreading it

    A screenshot of bots on twitter. There are 4 different profiles all tweeting the same thing about a new app. The accounts all have long strings of numbers at the end, like @Charles79929420. 

    Sometimes bot accounts use social media to deliberately spread incorrect information. Check the profile of the account posting the information to see if it is a legitimate account, or one that looks like it has been set up to push a particular message.

    Things such as the account's posting history, number of followers or location may help you figure out whether a real person is posting from the account.

  • Check who is paying for it

    Facebook example of how to see who paid for an ad. The ad reads "Sponsored: paid for by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning." The ellipsis has been clicked and the menu item "Why am I seeing this ad" is highlighted with a red rectangle.

    If you see sponsored advertising about an election on social media, you can check to see who has paid for it.

    Ads on social media will be marked 'sponsored' or 'paid for by [company name]'. You can click this information or the ellipsis on the post (...) to find out who has paid for it.

    Advertisers online can target people based on their location, age, gender, websites they have visited or other characteristics. Ask yourself why this message or ad may have been sent to you.

  • Check how it makes you feel

    If the information makes you feel angry or excited, take time to check the facts of the story. It might be an opinion piece that is designed to make people share it around.

    If you're not sure if the information is true – then don't share it.

    • Learn more about misinformation

    Illustration of a man looking confused next to a sign pointing in two different directions. The 2 directions on the sign read 'fact' and 'fiction'.

    Misinformation register

    We maintain a misinformation register where we debunk misleading information in circulation.

    Browse the register
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    Verifying information about elections

    We can help you check the facts about election information you receive.

    Verify election information
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    Working together to correct misinformation

    We maintain fair elections by working with partners to correct misinformation.

    Our misinformation approach