Overview
'Foreign interference and espionage is the principal security concern facing Australia. Foreign interference and espionage threaten the things that we value most about our country: our social cohesion, our trusted democracy, and our freedoms. Australia remains a target of sophisticated and persistent foreign interference activities directed towards government, academia, industry, the media and our communities. The nature and scale of the threat we face is complex, and undermines our sovereignty, values and national interests.'
Department of Home Affairs, Submission 1, p. 3.
Four key areas of foreign interference that are of concern in Australia are, two related to the pull of information and two related to the push of information.
These include:
- gathering intelligence on individuals that can be used to target them;
- gathering behavioural data by population or cohort that can be used to improve interference and influence campaigns;
- harassing Australia's diaspora communities; and
- spreading misinformation or disinformation with the intent to:
- achieve a specific outcome within Australia's political system;
- manipulate community discourse and understanding about an issue; or
- spread chaos and seed distrust in Australia's democratic systems.
Fake news is a term used to describe fictional news stories, claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news, that are made up to support certain agendas. They can form part of the 'push' element, harassment and spreading of misinformation, of foreign interference.
Key Terms
Fake news
Foreign Interference
- involves a threat to an individual, or
- is hidden, dishonest, threatening or corrupting and intended to influence an individual’s political rights or undermine Australia’s national interests.