Jewish groups call for online protections against online hate

The nation’s peak Jewish body has called for the online safety watchdog to be bestowed with greater powers, warning that the existing laws do not safeguard protected groups.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim. Picture: John Feder

A leading Jewish body has called for the online safety watchdog to be bestowed with greater powers to pursue internet users who deploy hate speech or target protected groups, warning that gaps in existing legislation have allowed anti-Semitism to “flourish”, leading to a rise in real-world incidents.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has raised concerns that the eSafety Commissioner does not have the powers to adequately address online hate speech, the incitement of violence, volumetric “pile on” attacks or vilification towards particular groups.

In its submission to the review of the Online Safety Act, the council has urged the government to reform the legislation to better shield protected communities, and facilitate the immediate removal of content which is illegal or harmful.

Under ECAJ’s proposed reforms, tech giants would be subject to mandatory reporting requirements demanding that they provide the eSafety Commissioner with a list of content they have removed and the reasons why the step had been taken.

The council pointed to examples where internet users shared anti-Semitic content implying that Jewish Australians were the true architects of the Voice referendum, to argue that vulnerable communities are not “sufficiently protected” under the legislation.

“The ECAJ believes that the current gaps in the Online Safety Act 2021 and particularly its failure to address online harms inflicted on protected groups, is a major reason why a permissive environment for anti-Semitic discourse has flourished online, contributing significantly to an increase in such discourse both online and in the physical world,” the submission says.

“This permissive environment has contributed to the dramatic rise in the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents.”

The submission, penned by ECAJ co-chief executive Peter Wertheim and head of legal Simone Abel, argues that penalties for tech giants that breach the act should be increased to a portion of their global revenue. The current fine is $156,000 for individuals and $782,500 for corporations.

The council raised concern that the burden to prevent online harm had fallen on users to identify breaches of online regulations and take action rather than corporations. The ECAJ called for harmful content that is illegal under state or federal law to be removed automatically, and a referral mechanism put in place to ensure that the material was sent to the commissioner to allow her to act “expeditiously”.

“This would help ameliorate the risk of time delay in removal of unlawful hate speech online, as inadequate and tardy responses can have catastrophic consequences in this area,” the submission says.

“Insufficient attention to preventing hate speech online has allowed Australians access to radicalisation material.”

The ECAJ has also called for a more “holistic approach” towards material that depicts violence, such as the October 7 attack by Hamas, which is often suppressed in full, while content denying the atrocities is allowed to proliferate.

It also argued that under the Online Safety Act abuse presented a much higher threshold to act than defamation and racial vilification laws, with content needing to be “seriously harmful” before the commissioner can act.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland brought forward the government’s review of the Online Safety Act in February, after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant launched legal action – since abandoned – against X Corp for sharing footage of the Wakeley terrorist stabbing.

The saga revealed significant gaps in existing legislation which ignited a national debate about the responsibility of tech giants to stem the spread of child sexual abuse and pro-terrorist material.

Former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard has been appointed to lead the review, which is due to table its final report by the end of October.