8 January 2026, Melbourne: The Online Hate Prevention Institute welcomes today’s announcement by the Prime Minister of the establishment of a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in response to the Bondi terrorist attack.
Dr Andre Oboler, CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute, said:
“Our social cohesion has been frayed, and Australia’s Jewish community left living in fear. The last two years have seen escalation after escalation, sometimes institutionally supported, other times institutionally ignored, tolerated or minimised. There has been an active campaign to gaslight the Jewish community, undermining their concerns, refuting their lived reality. Disinformation spread primarily through social media has been a significant driver of both the normalisation of antisemitism and the undermining of efforts to address it.
The Online Hate Prevention Institute has already recorded more than 14,000 instances of online antisemitism over the last two years. We have tracked its growth and the shifting nature of the narratives being employed across ten different social media platforms. We have watched antisemitism become normalised – first online, then in society, and ongoing efforts to undermine empathy for Jewish victims. As long as our resources hold, we will continue this vital monitoring.
We also saw the atrocity denial after the Bondi attack, as well as after the firebombing of two synagogues in Melbourne before that. Our report into the Bondi Beach Chanukah Massacre (to be released on January 15th) describes how even as Jews come under physical attack there are those working to undermine empathy for them, and to use the widespread media coverage of the event to spread antisemitism. We must recognise how the lack of empathy and the hostile environment that is manufactured has created conditions where those on a radicalisation path can more readily cross the threshold into action. The Royal Commission will, we hope, look at how that hostile environment was created and maintained, including through our university campuses.”
For the last fourteen years the Online Hate Prevention Institute has worked to monitor and address all forms of online hate. Australia is still coming to grips with this problem, not only in terms of antisemitism, but across the board. Social media has damaged our social cohesion. It has pushed people into echo chambers where it has magnified conflict and division. While a full dive into the role of social media may be beyond this Royal Commission, the identification of systemic gaps to addressing the problem is not. The must include not only the lack of powers, but the lack of government support for civil society groups working in this space.
The Royal Commission will have a significant task before it, both in importance and in scope. We wish the Commissioner, former High Court Justice the Hon Virginia Bell AC, every success in this task. It will require strength and courage, but Australia will be better for the clarity it has the potential to provide.