• Annual Report 2021
    Annual Report 2021

    The OHPI 2021 Annual Report is available for download. Highlights Submission and Reports published by OHPI International Engagement Our CEO presented to the “Asia Pacific Regional Forum on Hate Speech, Social Media and Minorities”, a 2-day online event convened by the Tom Lantos Institute and United Nations Special Rapporteur for Minority Issues. He also served as the panellist for Civil Society in the UN’s 13th Session of the Forum on Minority Issues. OHPI’s CEO & Managing Director continues to serve on the Australian Government’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and on IHRA’s antisemitism committee in particular. Over this…

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  • Solving Antisemitic Hate Speech in Social Media
    Solving Antisemitic Hate Speech in Social Media

    Confronting Antisemitism in Modern Media, the Legal and Political Worlds is the fifth volume of the An End to Antisemitism! series. Online Hate Prevention Institute’s CEO Andre Oboler wrote a chapter that explores how the problem of antisemitic hate speech on social media can be solved.

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  • Neo-Nazis April Fools’ Day
    Neo-Nazis April Fools’ Day

    When researching extremism, particularly online extremism, one needs to be conscious of many layers of depth. Peeling that onion takes time, effort and expertise. Experts are needed to raise the alarm when there is an emerging threat, but also not to play into the hands of neo-Nazis when they engage in attention-seeking publicity stunts.

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  • Submission on Extremist Movements & Radicalism in Australia
    Submission on Extremist Movements & Radicalism in Australia

    In December 2020 the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) commenced an Inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia.  Our Submission on Extremist Movements & Radicalism in Australia highlights the importance of the removal of the online pathways to radicalisation.

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  • Submission on Anti-Vilification Protections
    Submission on Anti-Vilification Protections

    The Online Hate Prevention Institute was one of 42 organisations to make a submission to the Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry Into Anti-Vilification Protections. Our submission, dated January 17, 2020, highlights the effectiveness of legislation in signaling the values of society, but also highlights practical limitations with the current legal framework and its implementation. We call for the introduction of a new lower level penalty, such as a fine, which could be more readily applied to cases of online hate, as well as calling for stronger mechanism to tackle serious hate speech which incites violence. We state that, “Major platforms should be…

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  • HATE AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM FROM AN ONLINE SUBCULTURE: The Yom Kippur Terrorist Attack in Halle, Germany
    HATE AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM FROM AN ONLINE SUBCULTURE: The Yom Kippur Terrorist Attack in Halle, Germany

    A new form of terrorism emerged in 2019. Incubated by a globalised, toxic, anonymous online culture, incitement to hate now all too frequently leads to violent extremism that manifests offline, and has cost the lives of dozens of innocents, including children. Participants and spectators of this newly forged online culture encourage, support and celebrate the serious crimes that they commit, and revel in the chaos and destruction they inflict. The Online Hate Prevention Institute’s latest report provides a detailed look at the online elements of the terrorist attack in Halle, Germany, in October 2019. It places the attack in the context of…

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  • Poway Synagogue Attack
    Poway Synagogue Attack

    This article is referred to in OHPI’s Annual Report for the 2016 Financial Year. Return to the Report. On the last day of the Jewish festival of Passover, on the Sabbath as the Jewish community of Poway near San Diego in California was gathered in prayer, a gunman with an AR-type assault weapon entered the place of worship and shot at the community killing one and injuring others. The gunman has been named as John T. Earnest, a 19 year old nursing student from Cal State San Marcos. Our analysis indicated this story is sadly similar to one already told. It…

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  • New Zealand Terrorist Attack
    New Zealand Terrorist Attack

    A report by Dr Andre Oboler, CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute. On March 15 2019, 50 people were killed in a terrorist attack in New Zealand. They were shot by a lone gunman who targeted two mosques in Christchurch during Friday prayers. The gunman, an Australian citizen living in New Zealand, has been named as Brenton Harrison Tarrant. Shortly before the attack he posted his manifesto and other writings online through the anonymous message board 8Chan, along with a link to his Facebook account saying he would be live streaming an attack “against the invaders”. His Twitter account…

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  • Bourke Street Attack November 2018
    Bourke Street Attack November 2018

    This article is referred to in OHPI’s Annual Report for the 2018 Financial Year. Return to the Report. Background At around 4:10 pm on Friday the 9th of November a car was driven into shops on Bourke Street in Melbourne. A man set the car on fire and proceeded to attack members of the public with a knife. He killed one man who died at the scene and injured two others. Police sought to disarm him and when that failed he was shot in the chest by police. LPG gas cylinders (the type used for BBQs) were later found in the…

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  • Car Attack in Flinders Street Melbourne
    Car Attack in Flinders Street Melbourne

    On December 21st 2017 a car deliberately drove through pedestrians outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. 19 people were injured and one later died in hospital. The driver was known to police and had a history of mental health issues and drug abuse. An Australian citizen of Afghan background, he had come to Australia as a refugee. In a press briefing that evening the Acting Commissioner of Victoria Police said “We haven’t found anything at all to indicate his linkage or involvement with any type of extremism with any terrorism organisation or anything of a terrorist nature”. Before, during and…

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