Hate continues to climb

Dr Andre Oboler, founder and chief executive of the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI), presented his second report to the Royal Commission, discussing antisemitism on social media platforms.

On Facebook, Oboler said levels in January and April this year had climbed significantly above the post-October 7 baseline, believing it could be linked to the “Iran situation”. He said Elon Musk’s acquisition of X led to about 80 per cent of trust and safety staff being dismissed. He told the commission he was personally targeted with a doctored antisemitic video after testifying before the European Parliament, and that a reply from the platform’s representative took more than 15 days.

Regarding Telegram, Oboler said it was dominated by the far right.

On Reddit, Oboler said Zionist-related antisemitism was growing faster than traditional antisemitism.

With TikTok, levels have nearly doubled since October 7, with the reels format itself being exploited to evade moderation. “By the time the system can deal with it, it’s not there anymore,” he said.