How anti-Semitism plan will affect universities, arts, ABC, social media
The new plan released by Labor’s special envoy looks to combat a wave of attacks against Jewish Australians. How will it impact different areas of Australian life?
The new plan released by Labor’s special envoy seeks to combat a wave of attacks against Jewish Australians. How will it impact different areas of Australian life?
Universities: Academic freedom no excuse for anti-Semitism, Bill Shorten says
Natasha Bita
University of Canberra vice-chancellor Bill Shorten has warned academics and students they cannot hide behind “academic freedom’’ as an excuse for anti-Semitism.
The former Labor leader and the nation’s most high profile university chief said that “there is no world in which spewing hate against people of Jewish heritage can hide behind academic freedom’’.
“This university absolutely rejects anti-Semitism or the hatred of Jewish people, one of the world’s oldest forms of hatred that has relied on myths and tropes and has not emerged from the drains of history again,’’ he told The Australian.
Mr Shorten said it was important that students and staff of Jewish heritage are “free to study without hostility, harassment, or intimidation’’.
“We vigorously oppose all forms of racism and continue to foster a culture of inclusion devoid of racism and prejudice on campus,’’ he said.
Universities insisted on Thursday that they are already stamping out anti-Semitism on campus, without the big stick of funding cuts.
Arts: Artists quiet on ‘accountability’
James Dowling
A landmark report into combating anti-Semitism has been met with silence from arts bodies facing the threat of funding withdrawals and new accountability measures.
The report outlined dual measures of “accountability” and “vibrancy” to reform a creative sector accused of fostering discrimination.
The Australian Society of Authors, Australian Festival Association and the National Association of Visual Artists were contacted for comment and either declined or did not respond.
The government’s appointed arts supervisor, Creative Australia, “noted” the report’s announcement.
“We note that the special envoy to combat anti-Semitism has today released a plan to combat anti-Semitism and that the Australian government has responded confirming it will consider the recommendations,” a Creative Australia spokesperson said. “We will work constructively with all government stakeholders as relevant.”
Jillian Segal’s report presented a carrot-and-stick method to cutting bigotry from Australia’s arts institutions. Under the proposal, public funds would be diverted away from “cultural institutions, artists, broadcasters and individuals” who “support or implicitly endorse anti-Semitic themes or narratives”.
In its place, the envoy’s office would provide education on anti-Semitism to support creatives and build guidelines with arts festivals to prevent public displays of hatred. It looks to unwind the ostracisation of Jewish artists since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Future public funding agreements would carry clauses for the “efficient termination of funding where the institution or festival promotes, facilitates or does not deal effectively with hate or anti-Semitism”, the report proposes, and charity tax deductions would be stripped from non-compliant bodies.
The mass doxxing of more than 500 Jewish community members in February last year drove Jewish artists from the country’s leading artistic institutions, an event Ms Segal sought to remediate in her proposal — calling on arts bodies to “re-engage with Jewish creatives”.
She called for the re-establishment of a Jewish Arts and Cultural Council to advise government and the promotion of Jewish cultural events.
“You should be able to be an arts worker without worrying whether or not a venue might cancel you at the last minute,” Arts Minister Tony Burke said on Thursday.
When asked whether any arts bodies could see funding pulled within the year, Mr Burke said he “wouldn’t like to put a deadline” on any cultural clean-up.
Media: ABC, SBS reporting on watchlist
James Madden
Australia’s public broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, have been put on notice to observe “fair, responsible reporting” of issues involving Jewish people.
Ms Segal recommended that publicly funded media organisations be monitored – and held accountable – should they broadcast “distorted narratives … of Jews”. If the recommendations are adopted by the Albanese government, the ABC and SBS could potentially face cuts to their public funding.
“Publicly funded media organisations should be required to uphold clear editorial standards that promote fair, responsible reporting to avoid perpetuating incorrect or distorted narratives or representations of Jews,” Ms Segal said.
Earlier this year, former ABC board member Joe Gersh criticised the taxpayer-funded media organisation for its “apparent blind spot when it comes to the concerns of the Jewish community”.
The ABC and SBS also drew criticism in January when neither public broadcaster sent a news crew to Auschwitz to cover the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp. All other major Australian news outlets had a presence at the commemoration.
In response to Ms Segal’s remarks on Thursday, an ABC spokesperson said: “The ABC has a strong and transparent system of self-regulation. It has the highest editorial standards, which are regularly reviewed, as set out in our editorial policies and a transparent complaint system available to audiences through an independent ombudsman.”
An SBS spokesman said: “SBS is an independent public broadcaster with a charter that for over 50 years has been dedicated to driving social cohesion. We have robust editorial standards set out in the SBS code of practice and hold ourselves accountable via an independent ombudsman.”
Social media: Why algorithms and AI ‘must be contained’
Noah Yim
Social media platforms have been singled out as key “vectors for hate” particularly among younger Australians who are more likely to hold anti-Semitic views, the special envoy to combat anti-Semitism says.
Anthony Albanese said social media ranking algorithms “reinforce views and they push people towards extremes” and that the government’s approach on anti-Semitism would involve “asserting the need for respectful discussion”.
“Social media has a social responsibility,” he said.
Ms Segal’s plan to combat anti-Semitism declared “change is required to ensure platforms address anti-Semitic content swiftly and effectively”.
“Algorithms must be transparent and prevent the amplification of online hate,” the report read. “Efforts should also be considered to reduce the presence or influence of ‘bots’, particularly those based overseas, that are designed to promote social discord in democratic societies and to reduce the reach of those who peddle hate behind a veil of anonymity.”
To this end, Ms Segal said content moderation and regulation had to be such to grant protections and rights in the online space in line with what already exists in relation to “real world” hate speech and incitement, and urged for increased transparency of social media algorithms and to establish regulatory parameters.
Ms Segal said she would work with eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant and relevant authorities to “ensure (artificial intelligence) does not amplify anti-Semitic content”.
Ms Segal also said she would “establish a project to support trusted voices to publicly refute anti-Semitic views, particularly via social media platforms”.
She stressed the role of education in combating anti-Semitism on social media platforms. “In view of data that shows younger Australians are more likely than older Australians to hold anti-Semitic views, governments should work with the special envoy, in consultation with the Jewish community, to support trusted voices to refute anti-Semitic views, particularly on social media platforms.”
On Thursday, unveiling the policy, Ms Segal said Australia had “lost” its ability to hold civil dialogue.
“Education … is not just about education on the history of the Middle East, or education about anti-Semitism,” she said.
“It is education, about how to have civil dialogue – and we’ve lost that. And I think it behoves our educational institutions at school, before people grow up, to have such definitive views shaped by social media, to have a respectful dialogue. So, that is, I think, something our society absolutely needs.”
Hate speech: Envoy calls for tougher laws
Rhiannon Down
The nation’s suite of hate speech laws need to go beyond the banning of Nazi symbols and tackle “actual hatred”, the Prime Minister’s hand-picked special envoy on anti-Semitism warns.
In her wide-ranging plan to tackle anti-Semitism, Ms Segal said governments needed to “review, and where appropriate, strengthen” existing laws outlawing vilification, the display of Nazi symbols and “violent or intimidating protest activity”.
Ms Segal said laws needed to go beyond banning the incitement of violence and prohibited symbols and address the “speaking of hatred, and demonstrated hatred”.
“We will work with state and federal governments to ensure our laws reflect the values and our way of life,” Ms Segal said.
“We will look at whether it is now necessary to strengthen hate crime legislation, including provisions relating to not only incitement and vilification and prohibitive symbols, which we have, but actual hatred and the speaking of hatred, and demonstrated hatred. We need to look at this.
“So I look forward to working with the various attorneys-general, police, prosecutors and the judiciary … to apply the laws and understand anti-Semitism,” she said.
The plan, responding to a rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, said, with government support, Ms Segal would conduct a review of existing hate crime laws, to uncover any weaknesses.
Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns said there were already wide-reaching laws banning hate crimes across the country.
“It is hard to think of any circumstance in which if you advocate violence against a particular ethnic group, religious group or cultural groups and engage in anti-Semitism at the same time, it’s hard to imagine how you couldn’t be caught by extraordinarily broad laws,” he said.
“This is gross overreach, or a fundamental misunderstanding of the broad reach of the new laws.”
In February, legislation expanding the criminal offence of threatening force or violence against a protected group, banning damage to places of worship and prohibiting Nazi symbols passed the federal parliament.
This is in addition to commonwealth civil protections provided under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which were used by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry to take a radical Islamic preacher, Wissam Haddad, to court for vilification.
NSW Premier Chris Minns passed laws that created the new offence of harassing a person outside a place of worship and publicly inciting racial hatred, as well as expanding rules banning the display of Nazi symbols through “public acts”, including graffiti.
These laws are now under review following criticism that they were rammed through the NSW parliament following the Dural caravan plot, which was later found to be a fake terror operation.
Following a similar spate of anti-Jewish crimes, Victoria also passed new laws in April, which strengthened existing laws against inciting hatred or making physical threats and imposed a maximum penalty of five years for vilification offences.
An analysis of existing anti-hate laws across Australia compiled by the ECAJ, showed that there is a patchwork of different legislation across the country.
This includes laws in Queensland criminalising “publicly inciting hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule by threatening harm or inciting others to threaten harm”, with a similar civil offence.
In the ACT, there is also a criminal offence of serious vilification, which is a public act that threatens or “recklessly incites hatred, revulsion, serious contempt or severe ridicule” as well as a civil offence.
Tasmania also has criminal laws banning the display of Nazi or prohibited symbols and a civil protection against inciting hatred.
Meanwhile, Western Australia has a wide array of criminal laws banning the incitement “racial animosity or racist harassment”, the possession of material that incites hatred and conduct intended to harass, but no civil protections.
South Australia also has existing laws criminalising conduct that publicly incites hatred.
Add your comment to this story
Push for welfare debt time cap
The Albanese government accepted all recommendations made by Robodebt commissioner Catherine Holmes but has yet to legislate a cap that would prevent raising of decades-old debts.
Nine months later, the first Australian tanks roll out in Ukraine
More than half of the 49 Australian tanks pledged to Ukraine have arrived, nine months after the Albanese government committed to a $245m military aid package.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout