Antoinette Lattouf ‘pushed back’ on ABC social media edict

The fill-in radio host refused an ABC management request to stop posting on social media during her week-long stint after she was informed of complaints from listeners about her stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Journalist Antoinette Lattouf arrives at the Federal Court on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki Short

Fill-in radio host Antoinette ­Lattouf said she had “pushed back” after an ABC manager had asked her to avoid posting on social media during her five-day contract in ­December 2023, after the public broadcaster said it had received a “flood of complaints” about the ­Lebanese-­Australian journalist.

On the second day of her unfair dismissal hearing against the ABC, Lattouf told the Federal Court that after her first of five shifts as stand-in presenter of the morning show on ABC Radio Sydney, station content director Elizabeth Green had suggested that “it would be best if you don’t tweet or post anything about the Israel-Palestine situation on ­social media while you’re with us”.

“I wouldn’t give anyone any ammunition for complaints,” ­Lattouf claimed Ms Green had told her.

Under cross-examination from the ABC’s barrister, Ian Neil, on Tuesday, Lattouf ­insisted that Ms Green had not ordered her to refrain from posting on ­social media over the course of the week.

Antoinette Lattouf arrives at the Federal Court on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki Short

Rather, Lattouf claimed that the content director had simply asked her to be mindful of what she wrote on online platforms about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Lattouf had disagreed with Ms Green’s advice, the court was told.

“I challenged it, yes I did, respectfully,” Lattouf said.

“I said: ‘I think it’s a bit unfair to ask me not to tweet or post at all.’ ”

The journalist said that after being alerted to the complaints from listeners – whom she had understood to be pro-Israel campaigners – Ms Green had made two “suggestions”.

“Maybe keep a low profile on Twitter,” Lattouf claimed Ms Green had told her during a telephone conversation on the evening of December 18, 2023.

“Perhaps it’s best not to post at all,” Ms Green had added.

According to Lattouf, the pair then discussed “parameters” and it had been agreed that ­“completely factual information from reputable sources” would be permissible.

“No conjecture, no misinformation, just sharing information from reputable sources,” Lattouf said of the agreed conditions of the alleged agreement.

According to Mr Neil, the ABC had actually made it clear to Lattouf that she was not to post anything controversial about the conflict in the Middle East during the week that she was presenting the morning show.

On December 19, Lattouf shared a post by Human Rights Watch on Instagram, with the caption that read “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war”.

Lattouf told the court: “I had already seen it reported on the ABC and the BBC.

“It was newsworthy.

“I decided that if it was good enough for the ABC and the BBC to post, it was good enough for my social media.”

On December 20, after her on-air shift had ended, Lattouf was summonsed to a meeting with three ABC managers.

At that meeting, she was told to “go back to her desk, collect her things, and leave”.

Lattouf told the court that on her way out of the building, she was met by Ms Green – who had been in the earlier meeting – and the pair began to cry.

“We were both sobbing,” Lattouf recalled, as her voice broke in the witness box.

Mr Neil put it to Lattouf that Ms Green had comforted her, and explained: “It’s just that the post wasn’t balanced.”

Lattouf said she replied to Ms Green: “But how do you ‘balance’ starvation?”

Later on Tuesday, Lattouf was asked about a consultation she had had with psychiatrist Nigel Strauss about six months after her sacking.

“I told him (the psychiatrist) that I am a social drinker but recently I have become a heavier drinker and sometimes I will drink until I pass out,” Lattouf said.

Outgoing ABC managing ­director David Anderson is expected to give ­evidence at the hearing on Wednesday.