Dr Andre Oboler, CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) will appear before the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on May 12, 2026.
The Royal Commission was established by the Australian Government following the deadliest terrorist attack in Australian history which occurred at Bondi Beach in December 2025 and targeted the Australian Jewish community. The Commission is examining the causes and impacts of antisemitism in Australia and will recommend measures to strengthen public safety, counter hatred, and rebuild social cohesion.
Dr Oboler and OHPI have been retained by the Royal Commission as expert witnesses. Our evidence examines the online reaction to the Bondi massacre, and the spread of antisemitic narratives across social media in the aftermath of the attack. It also looks at the rise in antisemitism after the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
The data on antisemitism in Australia before and after October 7 2023 can be seen in the following reports:
- The Online Antisemitism in Australia 2023 Report (14 August 2023)
- Online Antisemitism Before October 7 (25 March 2024)
- Online Antisemitism After October 7 (25 March 2024)
- Responses to the Melbourne Synagogue Attacks in 2024 & 2025 (21 July 2025)
- Social Media and the Normalisation of Hate: October 7 Two Years On (13 October 2025)
- Bondi Report (14 January 2026)
- Australian responses to the attack on London ambulances (30 March 2026)
The report also includes new data and analysis prepared specifically for the Royal Commission and a summary of data prepared for other parts of the Australian Government.
The testimony submitted to the Royal Commission highlights:
How Antisemitism spiked after October 7 2023 and remained persistently high
The report looks at OHPI’s systematic monitoring across 10 social media platforms. It also included comparisons between the platforms and explored the nature of the antisemitic narratives.
OHPI is charity and our work is supported by public donations. Your support is essential to ensure our work monitoring online antisemitism continues. In the graph above you can see the gap from September 2024 until June 2025 when no data could be gathered due to a lack of funding. Your support (click here) can ensure this doesn’t happen again.
How quickly antisemitic conspiracy theories emerged online following the Bondi attack
Social media was used to invert the roles of victims and perpetrators. Rather than expressing empathy for those targeted, many online responses sought to blame the Jewish community, deny the antisemitic nature of the attack, or rationalise the violence. OHPI’s evidence argues that these forms of online reaction are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern in which antisemitic disinformation undermines social cohesion, reduces public empathy for Jewish victims, and normalises hatred online.
How Antisemitism manifested in Australian online public squares
The report shares a summary of some of the key findings of work undertaken for Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. The project examined the comments on posts where Australians gather and engage in public discourse. It examined the comments on posts about the Jewish community, combatting antisemitism, and the Middle East by Australia’s political leaders and the Australian media. It highlighted a high degree of antisemitism in these public squares and that the vast majority of it was from Australians. It found traditional antisemitic narratives claiming government action on antisemitism demonstrated Jewish control of government. It also found high levels of Australian Jews being targeted with hate as a response to Israeli policies or actions, or alleged actions. Many Australians are not seeing the inherent racism in this.
Shortcomings in transparency
The report to the Royal Commission also discussed a range of issues related to transparency reporting on hate speech and platforms efforts to address it, which have gone backwards in recent times.
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