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December 16, 2025 \u2014 8:42am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n Follow our live coverage of the Bondi Beach shooting aftermath here.<\/a><\/p>\n A torrent of misinformation spread across social media following Sunday\u2019s Bondi Beach massacre, with Elon Musk\u2019s AI chatbot Grok amplifying false claims about the identity of a bystander who heroically disarmed one of the gunmen.<\/p>\n The shooting, which killed 15 people at a Hanukkah gathering<\/a> and left one of the gunmen dead, has become the latest flashpoint in concerns about AI systems and social media platforms amplifying falsehoods during breaking news events.<\/p>\n xAI\u2019s chatbot repeatedly misidentified 44-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a tobacco store owner who tackled one of the attackers<\/a> and seized his weapon before being shot in the arm and hand. Instead, Grok cited a fabricated news article naming a fictional \u201cEdward Crabtree\u201d \u2013 described as a 47-year-old IT professional with a British name \u2013 as the hero.<\/p>\n The fake story, complete with fabricated quotes from Crabtree\u2019s \u201chospital bed\u201d, originated from a website called thedailyaus.world, which was registered on Sunday in Iceland. The website is not connected in any way to youth news website The Daily Aus.<\/p>\n Related Article Casey Ellis, a Sydney-born cybersecurity veteran and founder of bug bounty platform Bugcrowd who has advised the White House and Australian intelligence agencies, said the conditions were ripe for a misinformation storm.<\/p>\n \u201cThis event is unbelievably tragic, deeply emotionally charged, and polarising in about a million different directions,\u201d Ellis told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you combine these with the \u2018fog of war\u2019 information environment that exists so soon after something like this, the desire and need for answers and just how easy it is to create misinformation, you end up with a multitude of opportunities to create misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n The misinformation spread so far that hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman felt compelled to correct it on X. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also initially got it wrong, telling journalists it was a Jewish bystander who wrestled the gun away, The Times of Israel reported.<\/p>\n \u201cSomebody invented a white guy, an \u2018IT professional\u2019 named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites,\u201d wrote journalist Ben Collins on Bluesky.<\/p>\n Beyond the false hero narrative, Grok displayed bizarre errors throughout Sunday and Monday. When users showed the chatbot video of Ahmed tackling the shooter, it claimed the footage was \u201can old viral video of a man climbing a palm tree\u201d. In another instance, it claimed a photo of the injured Ahmed was an Israeli hostage taken by Hamas.<\/p>\n The misinformation extended far beyond Grok.<\/p>\n An AI-generated image of a man having make-up and fake blood applied at the scene has flooded Reddit, WhatsApp group chats and X. The image was purported to be human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky who gave interviews to media from the scene with his face covered with blood.<\/p>\n A cropped photo of two female police officers at the scene went viral after being posted by a \u201cBarron Trump\u201d fan account based in Eastern Europe, falsely claiming they \u201ccompletely froze\u201d while \u201cgunmen reportedly fired for up to 20 minutes without interruption\u201d. The post, which racked up more than 100,000 views, sparked a wave of misogynistic commentary attacking female officers and so-called \u201cDEI\u201d hiring. In fact, the uncropped image showed the officers directing civilians away from the scene after the shooters had been neutralised.<\/p>\n An innocent Pakistani man living in NSW told The Guardian<\/a> that his life had become a \u201cnightmare\u201d after his photo was widely circulated falsely labelling him as one of the shooters. Naveed Akram, 30, shares the same name as one of the alleged attackers. The claim went viral after being heavily promoted by India-based accounts and was picked up by CBS News.<\/p>\n False claims also spread of co-ordinated attacks at Dover Heights and Double Bay, forcing NSW Police to issue a statement: \u201cThere have been NO reports of any incidents at Dover Heights \u2013 please do NOT share unconfirmed rumours.\u201d<\/p>\n In another example of deliberate manipulation, someone created a fake Google Maps listing labelling the Bonnyrigg home address of one of the alleged shooters as \u201cBondi beach shooters place\u201d and categorising it as a \u201clocal mosque\u201d. The listing, which Google says has since been removed, required technical sophistication to create \u2013 involving a website with specific code to trigger Google\u2019s business listing feature.<\/p>\n Ellis urged caution before amplifying unverified claims.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThink twice before you repost things that you see or read, especially if they contain specific factual information or messages strongly biased towards triggering an emotional response,\u201d he said. \u201cThe most reliable information tends to come out as the event is unfolding. From there, it is often swamped by misinformation \u2013 this is the danger zone we find ourselves in right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s eSafety commissioner meanwhile said that her office had received multiple complaints about online material showing footage of the mass shooting, which authorities have declared a terrorist incident. The regulator reminded platforms that sensitive content labels and blurring filters should be implemented to prevent incidental exposure.<\/p>\n \u201ceSafety will continue to work with platforms and services to ensure they meet their obligations under Australian law,\u201d the regulator said. \u201cFurther actions may be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n xAI was contacted for comment and responded only with its automated reply: \u201cLegacy Media Lies.\u201d<\/p>\n More Bondi terror coverage<\/p>\n Get news and reviews on technology, gadgets and gaming in our Technology newsletter every Friday. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/270b9375a6f182940aa84cdbee8a4efffefaa222.jpeg\")
An example of AI-generated misinformation being spread on social media after the Bondi attack. <\/p>\n![\"Index](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2b5e5d94664935557b66036f18fce0c3ca7f7be3.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Grok](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/543e8ab03e80ffcf040f68bd536bd0a698e28fc2.jpeg\")
Grok has been spouting misinformation about the Bondi massacre.xAI<\/p>\n![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c6ce360fb8185d34b4bef88e25e6973cc5416886.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765876452_771_b3a5e27b67bafef557dc9d266c430580bca7aae2.png\")
David Swan<\/a> is the technology editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor for The Australian newspaper.Connect via Twitter<\/a> or email<\/a>.Most Viewed in Technology![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765876453_7_270b9375a6f182940aa84cdbee8a4efffefaa222.jpeg\")
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