WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Pauline Hanson has said she will sue the ABC over a "deliberate on-air ambush" with host Patricia Karvelas.
OUR VERDICT
False. She has not announced she is suing the ABC and the quotes attributed to her are fabricated.
AAP FACTCHECK - Pauline Hanson hasn't announced she's suing the ABC, despite disinformation on social media targeting her and other conservative politicians.
A Facebook page called "The Viral Brief" has been sharing fake quotes tied to Senator Hanson and other politicians, including Liberal MP Andrew Hastie.
Facebook's transparency details show it is managed by users in Vietnam.
One post falsely claims Senator Hanson is suing the ABC over an interview with host Patricia Karvelas, which the One Nation leader purportedly said was defamatory.
"YOU DEFAMED ME ON LIVE TELEVISION — NOW YOU WILL PAY!" she is quoted as saying in the post.
It includes an image of the pair sitting across from one another in a TV studio pointing fingers at each other, but it has clear signs of AI generation.
The post claims she is suing the ABC's Q+A program, but the studio depicted does not match the Q+A set and the show was cancelled in 2025.
There is no record of Senator Hanson announcing plans to sue the ABC over an on-air appearance, or of the quotes attributed to her.
The post links to a website that makes more false claims, including that Senator Hanson's legal team is seeking $50 million in damages.
The post is the latest in a wave of social media disinformation targeting politicians, including both government ministers and conservative MPs.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked disinformation targeting Senator Hanson, who has emerged as a popular target for foreign-run pages that make up stories and fabricate quotes.
The Viral Brief page has also targeted Andrew Hastie, falsely claiming he exposed evidence that could see Prime Minister Anthony Albanese facing up to 30 years in prison for granting citizenship to "terrorist elements".
The post implies Mr Hastie said "WE CANNOT LIVE WITH PEOPLE WHO BETRAYED OUR COUNTRY TO FOLLOW TERRORIST ELEMENTS" and that those people are "scum".
But there's no record he said that. Similar to the claims targeting Senator Hanson, readers are also directed to a website.
However, unusually, the site focuses on debunking "misinformation" in the Facebook post.
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