Contextualizing critical disinformation during the 2023 Voice referendum on WeChat: Manipulating knowledge gaps and whitewashing Indigenous rights

Outside China, WeChat is a conduit for translating and circulating English-language information among the Chinese diaspora. Australian domestic political campaigns exploit the gaps between platform governance and national media policy, using Chinese-language digital media outlets that publish through WeChat’s “Official Accounts” feature, to reproduce disinformation from English-language sources. These campaigns are situated within local contexts and technological conditions. We show how WeChat content uses emotional-appeal disinformation to capture attention. They rely on familiar but misleading stories to fill knowledge gaps, draw on historical references to ease uncertainty about the future, and downplay or erase Indigenous issues through colonial tropes. These emotionally charged messages are then amplified by WeChat’s algorithm, helping them reach even wider audiences.