Print Email Facebook Twitter More

Facebook trolls and scammers from Kosovo are manipulating Australian users

By Michael Workman and Stephen Hutcheon

Updated about 10 hours ago

Photo: Facebook pages run from the Balkans are posting xenophobic content. (ABC News: Alex Palmer)

A network of popular Facebook pages that have built large audiences catering to Australians agitated over hot button issues such as Islam, refugees and political correctness is under the control of trolls and scammers from the Balkans who profit from the outrage they stir up.

Key points:

• A network of popular Australian Facebook pages is controlled from the Balkans
• The pages post memes and stories designed to fuel intolerance and racial vilification
• Using content stolen from other publishers, they earn revenue from Facebook's ad network

An ABC News investigation has identified at least four popular pages with shared characteristics that are managed by administrators based in Kosovo and the neighbouring countries of Albania and the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

The location information only recently became discoverable when Facebook flicked the switch to bring Australia into line with new advertising transparency measures that have been in place in the United States since mid-2018.

All four pages host a mixture of patriotic and agitational memes and a potpourri of news reports sourced from a single website that specialises in repackaging content stolen from mainstream and independent news organisations, including several from Australia.

The xenophobic content focuses on topics such as refugees, immigration, Muslims and Islam and free speech. The pages also take pot shots at politicians from Labor, the Greens and some moderate Liberals.

The Facebook pages have a combined fanbase of 130,000-plus, which has been built up over several years. The oldest and most popular page, "Australians against Sharia", has been publishing since June 2013.

Despite the niche focus of these pages, some of the posts have been shared over 20,000 times, indicating the promoted causes have resonated strongly among discontented Australians.

For popular Facebook pages like these, the potential reach would be at least 10 times more than the fanbase, said Joe Youngblood, a digital marketing consultant based in Dallas, Texas.