This report explores the evolving relationship between Australian news organisations, social media (Facebook) and online audiences, drawing on 15 years of news data. The study analyses more than three million posts from 25 Australian news publishers to gain insights into how news content is distributed, how audiences engage with news topics, and the nature of misinformation and disinformation spread – focusing on case studies related to health, election integrity and extreme weather events.

While mitigation measures such as fact-checking and Meta’s efforts to limit the spread of false content can curb misinformation, Australian political figures are largely exempt from these policies. This highlights the critical responsibility of political elites to communicate truthfully and avoid fuelling misinformation.

Key findings

• News organisations are increasingly dependent on social media platforms, particularly Meta’s Facebook, to reach their audiences, highlighting a fundamental shift in how Australians consume news.
• A data 'bump in 2016 shows the point news organisations significantly increased the amount of content shared through social media.
• The most popular stories shared by news organisations were arts and lifestyle posts, which is a reversal from 10 years ago when political stories had greater engagement.
• Social media has become a powerful tool for dissemination of misinformation which can flourish and spread quickly.
• Misinformation is especially spread during Australian elections, where conspiracy theorists make false claims about electoral processes.
• Public figures, politicians in particular, play a key role in spreading misinformation, with data showing that misleading statements from elites are readily picked up and amplified by the public, however they can play an important role in curbing misinformation.