Tech giants told by Peter Dutton to cut off online evil

Peter Dutton has launched a scathing attack on social media companies after the emergence of a chilling online video posted by the Wieambilla killers.

Gareth and Stacey Train in a YouTube video posted after they had killed two police constables.

Peter Dutton has launched a scathing attack on social media companies, accusing them of abrogating their responsibilities in ­pursuit of profits, after the emergence of a chilling online video posted by the killers of two young constables and a neighbour in Monday’s ambush on a remote Queensland property.

A former Queensland police officer and long-time home affairs minister, the Opposition Leader said social media platforms used algorithms to promote conspiracy theories and make money but ­refused to tackle a proliferation of dangerous and hateful material.

Mr Dutton said he would work with the Albanese government on any plans it had to stem the flood of conspiracy theories, disinformation and hateful commentary online, such as that spread by Gareth and Stacey Train.

Just hours after the shooting, the couple boasted that they killed “these devils and demons” in a YouTube video that had followed a series of increasingly ominous online posts leading up to the attack at their property at Wieambilla, 290km west of Brisbane.

Mr Dutton urged members of the public to contact authorities if they had concerns that friends and relatives were engaging with wild, dangerous conspiracy theories.

The government went to ground on Friday, with Home ­Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil ­refusing to make any comment on the appearance of the video and other evil rantings online by murderous accomplices Nathaniel Train, brother to Gareth and first husband of Stacey. Attorney-­General Mark Dreyfus also ­declined to say what the government could do to address the ­proliferation of false conspiracy theories being spread online. “Right now, three families are grieving and the Queensland Police are conducting an investigation into these horrific murders,’’ Mr Dreyfus said. “I think it’s important that the Queensland Police be allowed to conduct that investigation and complete that investigation without speculation or any interference. Obviously, federal agencies will continue their work in the meantime, and equally clearly, the Australian Federal Police stand ready to assist the Queensland Police in any way they can with the conduct of those investigations.’’

On Thursday, Ms O’Neil said new policies were required, which could include legislative responses, to tackle disinformation and conspiracy theories such as those being spread by the Trains.

“Security agencies are actively considering the implications of this matter for the national ­security of our country, the implications of online radicalisation of misinformation and violent ­extremism,’’ she told parliament.

The emergence of the video will spark renewed debate about what obligations social media channels have to prevent the spread of dangerous conspiracy theories, disinformation and vile, hate-filled commentary.

The video was uploaded on YouTube, owned by American giant Google, at 7.39pm on Monday – three hours after the Trains had ambushed Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, and Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, shooting them dead after they arrived at their remote bush block at ­Wieambilla following up a missing person’s report on Nathaniel Train.

“They came to kill us and we killed them. If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons … you’re a coward,” said Gareth Train, sitting in the dark with his wife, a veteran teacher, beside him.

Specialist police were surrounding the property on Wains Road, halfway between Chinchilla and Tara, at the time.

“We’ll see you when we get home,’’ Stacey then says.

“We’ll see you at home, Don,’’ her husband adds in reference to an unidentified person before his wife then finishes with “love you”. The video was posted under the name Mrs Yugi Girawil.

Three hours later, the trio were shot dead.

The video was later taken down but re-emerged on BitChute, an alt-right and largely unregulated video-hosting platform used by conspiracy theorists.

“We can confirm the YouTube channel Mrs Yugi Girawil was ­terminated for a violation of our violent extremist or criminal organisations policy,’’ a YouTube spokesman said.

Queensland Police later asked all media outlets to remove the video from their platforms.

Mr Dutton said social media companies that allowed such ­content to be posted on their ­platforms showed a “complete ­abrogation of their corporate and social responsibilities’’ and ­allowed like-minded conspiracy theorists to come together in chat rooms and spread disinformation in such vast quantities it was almost impossible for law enforcement to monitor it.

He said the public needed to notify authorities if they saw family and friends begin to spend many hours online and sign up to dangerous conspiracy theories, as people “waded into the edge’’ of dangerous disinformation.

“It is domestic terrorism and it’s on a huge scale; there are terabytes of data,’’ he said.

Mr Dutton likened the situation 10 years ago when young people started becoming radicalised online to support Islamic State.’’

Monday’s shootings followed years of online posts by Gareth Train in which he espoused bizarre conspiracy theories – including that the 1996 Port Arthur massacre was faked – and even writing about his threats against police entering his ­property.

The trio were armed and in camouflage gear when the team of four police officers arrived at the bush property about 4.30pm (AEST) and were shot as they walked up the driveway.

All three killers were later shot dead about 10.30pm by police who stormed the property in armoured vehicles under the cover of ­darkness.

On Friday, The Australian ­revealed police were investigating the possibility the three shooters were the source of an anonymous tip-off to NSW police that Nathaniel Train was at the property, which had a sophisticated surveillance network and sniper “kill zones”.

On December 8, NSW police had issued a public statement asking for assistance in locating Nathaniel Train, a primary school principal who went missing last December.