Social media giants face the Royal Commission

This week the Royal Commission turned its gaze from the victims of online hate to those who enable it – the platforms themselves. What it heard should alarm every Australian.

Meta admitted it has shifted from proactively hunting down hateful content to sitting back and waiting for users to report it. The result? Action against hateful content on Facebook fell 79 per cent. On Instagram, 73 per cent. Its own global policy director could not explain why. Facebook in Australia, meanwhile, claims it bears no responsibility for content moderation at all.

TikTok cannot say whether antisemitism is rising or falling on its platform, because while it logs content that violates its rules, it does not record who the hatred targets.

Livestreaming platform Kick acts on fewer than one in 100 reports of hate – and its own general counsel could not say whether a stream declaring “Jews are evil rats and subhumans” would breach its rules.

These platforms, who profit from every click and every hour of our attention, cannot adequately answer the most basic questions about the hate flourishing on their watch.