AEC seeks to clarify collaboration rules for content creators

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) yesterday moved to clarify the rules around authorisations and collaborations for content creators who post political messaging during the Federal Election campaign.

It is warning creators who are sharing political posts to ensure the authorisation is carried over even if the post is reshared or reposted on a platform. If the politicians are appearing/reposting a post with a creator they are advising them to authorise the collaborative posts with influencers/creators.

Go Deeper: The statement comes just days after high-profile TikToker and Instagrammer Abbie Chatfield drew national headlines after the AEC moved to investigate some of her political posts. The AEC quickly cleared Chatfield's posts but the issue has raised uncertainty around the issue, with some creators now adding authorisation messages.

What they said: In a media release, the AEC warned creators on the issue of collaborative posts:

• "Where a disclosure entity re-shares or reposts, the communication made by a content creator/influencer/podcaster, then the reshared post or communication will be considered a separate communication and likely require an authorisation by the person responsible for resharing or reposting.
• "Where a communication is published as a collaboration on a social media platform and the disclosure entity accepts the collaboration causing the communication to automatically post to the disclosure entity’s own profile, the disclosure entity accepts that the communication is made by or on behalf of itself. The communication in this instance must be authorised."

The AEC then went on to say: "If a disclosure entity is unable to edit a collaborative post to add an authorisation, the AEC recommends:

• the disclosure entity requests the creator tags them in the post; and
• the disclosure entity posts the communication with an authorisation included on their own page."

Why it matters: Under the electoral law, political advertising is required to carry a message stating who authorised it. The statements come after the AEC drew criticism from some TikTok users over the weekend over a Liberal Party social media ad which used a clip by TikToker HollyUnmuted without her permission.

Under the electoral law there is no requirement for a political party to get permission or fairly represent the meaning of the user in an ad. However, they are required to have an authorisation message so the viewer knows who created the ad.

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