Australia officials work with social media to safeguard poll

CANBERRA, Australia – Australian electoral authorities say they have for the first time set up a cybersecurity task force and are working with social media companies to tackle misinformation in the run up to general elections on May 18.

Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers says safeguarding the election’s integrity gained priority due to experiences in other countries, including Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Rogers says he is having daily briefings with the Electoral Integrity Assurance Task Force, which comprises the nation’s major security agencies.

Rogers said Thursday that he meeting almost as regularly with social media companies Facebook, Google and Twitter.

It is an offence against Australia’s Electoral Act to send messages to multiple people designed to influence their vote without publishing who authorized the message.