Why the incel forums flipped on Bondi stabbings murderer

Users of the most extreme incel forums were celebrating the Bondi stabbings as they realised most of the victims were women, but the tone soon shifted after one revelation.

A photo of Joel Cauchi, left, used on escort sites before his killing spree, right.

Users of the most extreme incel forums were celebrating the Bondi stabbings as they realised most of the victims were women, but the tone shifted when it emerged that Joel Cauchi had worked as an escort.

Incels – or “involuntary celibates” – are men who belong to an extremist online subculture that, according to the Anti-Defamation League, “blames women and society for their lack of romantic success”.

While there was nothing that directly linked Cauchi to this extremist ideology, the fact he mostly targeted women and that his father told The Australian that Cauchi “wanted a girlfriend” has been picked up by incels and researchers as hints he could have subscribed to this kind of thinking.

Authorities have previously drawn attention to incel ideology as a dangerous one – for example, ASIO boss Mike Burgess in 2021 named it as one example of why the agency would rename “religiously motivated violent extremism” to “ideologically motivated violent extremism”.

Last year, a Canadian court for the first time deemed an incel-related murder in 2020 an act of terrorism.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said it was “obvious” Cauchi targeted women more than men, and it would be a “line of inquiry”, but she has not declared the stabbings an act of terrorism.

In the immediate aftermath of the Bondi Junction stabbing, incel forum users celebrated Cauchi once they learnt the majority of the victims were women.

“New incel saint,” one wrote. Others called him a “hero”.

Another commented on a news clip of a woman being interviewed, appearing to cry as she left the Westfield shopping centre, expressing glee at “seeing this bitch foid cry out of fear”.

“Foid” – short for “femoid” – is a derogatory incel term for woman, the Anti-Defamation League says, which combines the words “female” and “humanoid”.

Another thread complained that a female police officer was being celebrated for responding to and killing Cauchi.

“They hate you and they get off watching women kill you,” one person wrote.

The tone shifted after The Australian reported on Sunday that Cauchi had advertised himself as an escort.

Deakin University associate professor Josh Roose said incel forums of this kind were the “tip of the spear” in terms of ideology but elements of this ideology were increasingly popular among young men.

“There are different layers – there are men’s rights groups, there’s historically been pick-up artists, and now there are misogynistic influences like Andrew Tate,” he said.

He said incel ideology often overlapped with racism and anti-Semitism. This was exhibited in the forum discussions, where users drew attention to how Bondi has a relatively large Jewish population – in some instances expressing approval for the site of the mass murder – and drew attention on the Chinese international student who was one of the six dead.

“What we’re seeing is a strong set of ideological convergences across extremist groups,” he said. “A lot of incel ideology and ideas interact and intersect with far-right racism and anti-Semitism. We’re seeing anti-Semitism – which is also now arguably hitting elements of the left – because Jews are seen as pulling the strings behind the scenes.”

Dr Roose said investigation was required to determine whether Cauchi subscribed to incel ideology in any part and it could not yet be ruled out.