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ADM+S submission to the Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy
This submission to the Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy draws on research conducted ahead of the 2025 Australian Federal Election to track political advertising in key electorates.
More than 100 people installed an ad collection tool on their phones during the two weeks prior to election day and over 20,000 ads were collected. The ads were sorted through to identify and analyse the political ads they received, noting that this did not include unsponsored, user generated content.
Of the 580 political ads seen by participants, many focused heavily on energy and climate change, often in relation to increases in energy prices and the cost of living. As well as political parties, 7% of these ads came from third party organisations with a strong focus on energy and climate.
The research revealed that astroturfing in climate and energy debates is not the work of fringe actors but a systematic strategy of mainstream political and corporate players. Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message to make it appear as though it originates from grassroots citizens or community organisations.
The submission concludes the evidence points to five clear priorities for parliamentary and regulatory reform.
Key Findings
- Astroturfing is mainstream.
- Climate and energy are prime targets.
- There is systematic misrepresentation.
- There is heavy spending and reach.
- There are regulatory gaps.
Recommendations
- National truth in political advertising laws to address misleading factual claims.
- Real-time disclosure of third-party funding and donors, closing loopholes that allow concealment.
- Consistent blackout rules across broadcast and digital media to prevent legislative circumvention.
- Platform accountability: require accurate classification and disclosure of advertisers to stop mislabelling (e.g. lobby groups as “community organisations”).
- Independent monitoring support (e.g. via the Australian Internet Observatory) to track hidden digital influence ecosystems and provide independent transparency.
