WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Anthony Albanese has promised to "thoroughly investigate" Senator Pauline Hanson's remarks about Muslims.
OUR VERDICT
False. Quotes attributed to the prime minister are fake.
AAP FACTCHECK - Anthony Albanese has not promised to "thoroughly investigate" Senator Pauline Hanson over her recent comments about Muslims, despite claims being made online.
The prime minister has criticised the One Nation leader for her widely condemned comments on Sky News in which she said: "You say, 'Well, there's good Muslims out there.' How can you tell me there are good Muslims?"
A disinformation Facebook page has sought to capitalise on the fallout by distorting the prime minister's reaction to her comments.
The Facebook page, called The Australian Bulletin, has posted a claim that Mr Albanese declared he would investigate the Queensland senator and that he is "not going to let this go".
"Shocking news: Anthony Albanese is furious and has declared he will thoroughly investigate Pauline Hanson's disgusting comments about Muslims - 'I'm not going to let this go'," the caption reads.
The page links to an online article in the comments that contains further alleged quotes from Mr Albanese about the One Nation leader.
The article suggests the prime minister is exploring legal and parliamentary avenues in response to the comments.
However, the quotes are fake.
There is no record of them on the prime minister's social media accounts or official transcripts of his media appearances in the days since Senator Hanson's comments.
Despite that, many users appear to have believed the post and have pointed to it as evidence that Mr Albanese was seeking to have her prosecuted under recently passed hate speech laws.
His actual comments in response to Senator Hanson's remarks were widely reported by various media outlets.
He called them "disgraceful" on radio station Nova and accused her of "dividing Australians" on The Guardian's Australian Politics podcast.
When asked whether Senator Hanson's comments fell foul of hate speech laws, Mr Albanese declined to give his opinion.
"I'm not a lawyer, nor am I in charge of fulfilling those laws. I'll allow the appropriate authorities to engage," Mr Albanese told Sky News Australia.
Experts have previously told AAP FactCheck that disinformation pages use false claims to push users to external websites that are often laden with ads, scams and even viruses.
AAP FactCheck has identified dozens of social media accounts recently spreading disinformation about Australian politics; they often use AI tools to generate images and text.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
