A foreign network of hundreds of Facebook pages has used AI deepfakes to target dozens of Australian politicians in what researchers describe as a commercially motivated influence campaign. Research organisation Reset Tech tracked more than 200 Facebook pages impersonating political figures over an eight-month period, linking the campaign to an influencer business in Sri Lanka.

About 10 per cent of the network's pages had been monetised through Facebook's creator payment scheme, according to the report. Reset Tech chief research officer Rys Farthing said the operation demonstrated foreign influence driven by financial gain rather than traditional state-based interference, ABC News & reports.