Source : Perth Now news
Elon Musk was labelled as “dangerous” as his “toxic” social media platform was the subject of bruising testimony at the royal commission into anti-Semitism following the Bondi terror attack.
X, formerly Twitter, was condemned by several “concerned” experts after it refused to respond to repeated requests to appear at the Royal Commission on anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion this week.
The commission heard after Mr Musk bought the platform, X reportedly fired 80 per cent of its online safety staff, denied its responsibility to protect children from “violent porn” and argued footage of the December Bondi terrorist attack and ‘Holocaust jokes’ should be allowed online.
Fifteen people were shot and killed in what was a targeted attack on the Jewish community at a Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi Beach on December 14.
Musk’s $44bn acquisition of the company in 2022 reportedly marked a shift in platform priorities, resulting in the encouragement of almost “absolute free speech” and monetisation of harmful material, several expert witnesses claimed.
“Elon Musk himself has amplified certain content that really promotes anti-Semitism and pushes hate,” chief executive of the Online Hate Prevention Institute, Andre Oboler, said.
“Obviously, we saw after Trump’s election, we saw the Nazi salute that he did at the event.
“So … read it as you will, but there’s certainly a problem there that is being amplified and coming from someone with a huge degree of influence over the platform.”
X Corp was consistently referred to as a “difficult” entity to work with, throughout the week of testimony in Sydney.
The social media company even reportedly said it should not be responsible for protecting children from “violent pornography”, “hate speech” or “content that promotes seriously harmful behaviour”.
X had responded to a government survey in 2025 consulting on potential legislation which would shift platform responsibility from reactive complaint responses to active risk management.
First assistant secretary of the government’s digital platforms, safety and classification division, Sarah Vandenbroek told the commission she was “disappointed” by the company’s denial of accountability for harmful content accessed by children.
Violent reality of online attacks
According to counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC, online hatred has the potential to incite real-life incidents.
Mr Lancaster said social media platforms could operate as “incubator(s) of anti-Semitic violence” after the online environment had become “perhaps the most significant vector” for the spread of Jewish hate.
Research cited in the commission’s interim report highlighted up to 60 per cent of violent extremist offenders had radicalised “primarily online or had significant online influences”.
For federal Labor MP Josh Burns, online threats became a “surreal” reality when extremists firebombed and vandalised his St Kilda electorate office in an anti-Semitic attack.
The politician, who is Jewish, described social media platforms as “arenas of hate” after experiencing thousands of online attacks and threats.
“The(y) drive traffic to the darkest society, where the people that are the most antagonistic are sent the content that they are likely to be abusive on.”
He also described the “frustration” arising from platform complaints just “disappear(ing) into a black hole”, after only three of his 44 reports resulted in posts being taken down.
Mr Burns’ sentiment was mirrored by Arsen Ostrovsky, the Jewish Australian targeted by a deepfake smear campaign after being injured in the December 14 attack.
The Bondi survivor faced a “relentless tsunami of Jew hatred online” which involved AI images portraying him as a crisis actor.
Mr Ostrovsky said some of the hurtful content was “still online” more than six months later.
Child target of suicide poll
The commission has heard from multiple parents recounting the heartbreak of telling their children they have “done nothing wrong” by simply being Jewish.
A concerned Jewish father testified on Monday that social media platforms acted as “the playground” for increasing anti-Semitism in Australia.
The anonymous witness recounted the “horrifying ordeal” of reading online anti-Semitic attacks against his son which involved Nazi slogans and a poll discussing whether the then seven-year-old should kill himself.
“It’s not something you would want your child to go through,” the father said.
The inquiry continues on Monday and the findings will be published ahead of the first anniversary of the attack.
