Social media was the main source of election information for people under the age of 35, a new report released by the University of Canberra has revealed.
The report, Unpacking Election Misinformation, investigates Australians’ experiences of news and information throughout the 2025 Federal Election.
Lead author of the report, Dr Kieran McGuinness of the News and Media Research Centre (NMRC), says that political information during elections can deepen polarisation and lead people to vote against their best interests.
“People may be inclined to avoid or disengage with the democratic process due to the overwhelming information environment,” they said.
The report surveyed around 2,000 people and interviewed 35. They were asked about what kind of news and media they used to get information in the lead-up to the election and what they did when they encountered false election information.
The research found that most people (75 per cent) are concerned about the spread of election misinformation, but many lack the skills and confidence needed to verify information online or on social media. The majority want government and social media platforms to do more to address the issue of online misinformation.
When people do bump into false information online, they are most likely to ignore it (44 per cent) rather than attempt to fact-check it. The most trusted sources of news and information were the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) (63 per cent) and public broadcasters (54 per cent). 52 per cent of respondents said they used mainstream news brands as a source of news and information to find out about the election.
“Australians are still much less likely to trust generative AI, social media, political advertising, and political websites as sources of election information,” Dr McGuinness said.
“Among the most trusted sources, the AEC and public television were rated much higher than newspapers, news websites, commercial television and radio.”
But for young people, there has been a shift in how they consume election information. “57 per cent of 18-24 year olds said they used social media as a source of election information,” Dr McGuinness said.
“This resulted in younger people being more likely to say they encountered election misinformation from influencers and content creators. Generally, journalists and activists were less likely to be reported as sources of misinformation.”
60 per cent of respondents said they came across election misinformation in the two weeks prior to the election, and prominent campaign topics such as nuclear energy (51 per cent), cost-of-living (53 per cent), climate change and immigration were the most common topics of misinformation.
Politicians and political parties were the most reported source of misinformation (66 per cent). The report findings also indicate that more adult media literacy training is needed, Dr McGuinness said.
“There were high levels of support for media literacy training across age, gender, education and income groups,” they said. “Younger people and those with tertiary education or media literacy training were more likely to agree with the need for more adult media literacy training.”