Holocaust jokes ‘normalised’ on apps but policing tech giants remains tough under Australian law, experts say

Holocaust jokes and denial have been normalised on social media but policing tech giants who fail to remove anti-Semitic content remains impossible under Australia law, say online hate experts.

Increasingly “toxic” apps had made hatred of Jewish people the “new normal” for users, said Online Hate Prevention Institute chief executive Andre Oboler.

He was one of four expert witnesses who called for stronger protections during their testimonies to the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion on Wednesday.

Mr Oboler said he believed the Elon Musk’s app X, formerly known as Twitter, was “dismissing” harmful content as “political speech without recognising that it’s crossed that line”.

“Look … it’s definitely dangerous, not only for its own sake but because it’s shifted the dynamic,” he said.

“Mark Zuckerberg decided to pull off a lot of the safety measures … that was just following what Musk was doing.”

His research institute collated 500 pieces of anti-Semitic evidence obtained from X and Meta posts, and 250 each from five other platforms, to present to the commission.

Several experts insisted tackling dangerous algorithms and swiftly removing anti-Semitism content was crucial after multiple reports found that apps were failing to act when hateful material was flagged.

“Once Elon Musk took over they gutted trust and safety and there just isn’t the capacity or the staffing or the will I would say to really respond properly and try to create a safe space for their audience,” Mr Oboler said.

“A lot of people have just left the platform … particularly in the Jewish community.”

Robert Nicholls, an associate professor in regulation and governance at the University of Sydney, called for a digital duty of care.

Citing international laws such as the UK Online Safety Act to enforce content was taken down, he called tackling this issue without a similar legalisation in Australia “problematic”.

He recommended tougher penalties, including holding senior tech managers personally liable.

The expert testimonies added to a chorus of calls in Canberra on Wednesday for a fast tracked digital duty of dare as amendments to Australia’s under-16s social media ban were debated in Parliament.

Communications Minister Anika Wells vowed the legislation would be introduced later in the year but insisted Parliament should support her Government’s proposed changes which include increasing the eSafety Commissioner’s powers and fines for breaches to the under-16 ban.

“We’ll introduce a digital duty of care that will require all digital service providers, including social media platforms, to adopt safety by design, maximise user choice and transparency, and have systems in place to prevent the harm before it occurs,” Ms Wells told the House.

She said the measure would target profit-driven algorithmic recommendation systems that cause “psychosocial” harm by amplifying “division or extremism” in echo chambers.

Despite calls for immediate implementation, Ms Wells insisted “creating a digital duty of care is complex policy and cannot be rushed”.

“But the Albanese Government is committed to working with all sides of the parliament to get it right,” she said.

Ms Wells rejection of fast-tracked legislation came after Labor MP Josh Burns appeared before the Royal Commission on Tuesday and spoke of the anti-Semitic attacks he and his partner Georgie Purcell faced.

“The responsibility should lie with the social media platforms to be able to make sure that it’s safe for people online,” Mr Burns later told ABC 7.30 on Tuesday.

“It’s been a long and difficult, sort of frustrating experience with the social media companies.

“Not only should they be taking more active steps to make it safer in the everyday experience, but when you do report it… it’s just like it disappears into a black hole.

“We’ve made 44 formal reports in the last few years, only three of which resulted in a platform or an account being taken down, the vast majority of which weren’t even responded to.”

Ms Wells also used her speech to reject amendments in the House by Opposition and independence while warning against attempts to “score cheap political points” over the policy.

“We must come together and stand on the side of parents and kids, not platforms,” she said.

“Delaying or blocking passage means delaying or blocking accountability for the social media companies.”

Both the Greens and Coalition have expressed their intention for the changes to the social media ban to go to a Senate inquiry over the winter recess.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said prioritising the under-16s ban over the promised digital duty of care bill was a “design failure right from the beginning”.

She acknowledged Mr Burn’s experiences and highlighted it as an example of social media pushing hate-based on race, religion and bigotry on users.

“You know what works? You know what funnels that? What makes that happen? Is these nasty algorithms,” she told RN Breakfast.

“That is what churns these social media companies’ profits. It is their business model.

“So if you want to hit them where it hurts, if you want to make these places safer for everybody, you’ve got to tackle them.”