Political misinformation was a key concern of Australian voters, who went to the polls on May 18 2019. CrossCheck Australia monitored the Australian federal election by investigating disputed online content. Newsrooms, academic institutions and volunteers worked together on a range of investigations, all of which uphold their Guiding Principles.
The coalition of media and academic collaborators cast a wide net into social media for a deeper discovery into potential disinformation. Rather than purely fact-checking political statements or debunking viral falsehoods, CrossCheck Australia promoted accurate, responsible reporting and added context and evidence to misleading and inaccurate content.
CrossCheck Australia launched in May 2019 to cover the Australian federal election, but its network will continue to investigate disputed online content with a view to the Australian Partners publishing material again later this year. It is managed by First Draft at its Sydney bureau, which is based at the UTS Centre for Media Transition.
