The post remained public for four days before being removed in the hours after the ABC asked whether anyone was monitoring it.<\/p>\n
While the ABC has included some of the comments, it has chosen not to include others because they involved incitement of violence and physical harm.<\/p>\n
![\"Racist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/435c70212d79b447df1fd3cbb16f9af4.jpeg\")
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Some of the comments published on a WA Police Facebook post. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
It is the latest in a long line of public police posts that attract comments described as deeply offensive by senior Perth lawyer Demi Swain, but which the police force says it will not take down for fear of limiting its social media reach.<\/p>\n
Ms Swain said WA Police could be held liable for defamation as a publisher with control over the comments, which she described as “flat out discriminatory” and “incited discrimination or hate”.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0358866729717af10e35a47199a48f4c.jpeg\")
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Demi Swain says WA Police could be liable for defamation. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)<\/p>\n
“These comments directly breach their terms of service community standards,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Swain said social media platforms like Meta should also play a larger role in monitoring comments.<\/p>\n
Concerned community member and Yawuru woman Mikka Poelina told the ABC she had been concerned about the comments on the page for several years, but had noticed a recent escalation in hate.<\/p>\n
“I’ve seen that they’ve left comments open, and it’s always open to racist comments,” she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Racist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/775a3324ce67f3231c9df368ff8f5d62.jpeg\")
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Some of the comments on a recent post on the WA Police Facebook page. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
“They’re not doing enough.”<\/p>\n
Ms Poelina said the comments had a “big impact”, serving to further marginalise Indigenous people.<\/p>\n
“Before you had to go out on the street to find racism \u2014 now it can just come straight to your house through this media,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It just keeps going with the stereotype that Aboriginal people are criminals and bad.”<\/p>\n
Police won’t turn comments off<\/p>\n
WA Police has stood by its decision to keep the comments section open, saying social media remained an effective tool for sourcing information and communicating directly with the public.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1cd8b0d4d35927ebb60dfc23f271c64a.jpeg\")
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WA Police Force says it uses auto-filters and manual screening to remove inappropriate comments. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n
“The platforms encourage engagement among users, and this means that switching comments off limits the reach of posts in the community,” a spokesperson said in a statement to the ABC.<\/p>\n
“While WA Police Force does, on occasion, switch comments off, this is not and won’t become standard practice.”<\/p>\n
“Auto-filters” and “manual screening” were used to remove inappropriate commentary, the spokesperson said, but would not say if there were people responsible for moderating content.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fb2b472a5ed2e0fba4c293b56bb48299.jpeg\")
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Mikka Poelina says not enough is being done to stop racist comments on the posts. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n
Social media users should report inappropriate posts directly to the operators of the platforms, police said.<\/p>\n
Comments go against policy<\/p>\n
WA Police’s management of social media comments appears to contradict its own policies.<\/p>\n
Social media guidelines for WA government agencies state that online dialogue should be moderated.<\/p>\n
“If the content is ugly, offensive, denigrating and completely out of context, then we reject the content,” the policy says.<\/p>\n
That includes bullying, abuse, defamatory, abusive, harassing or hateful statements.<\/p>\n
The guidelines also say agencies should have assigned moderators for their social media channels and “review every one of the comments and posts on those channels”.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a5bebe0d3b8ffac589208793660998ca.jpeg\")
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More than half a million people follow the Western Australia Police Force Facebook page. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n
Moderation on WA Police Facebook pages appears less regulated than in other states.<\/p>\n
For example, comments are frequently limited or closed on the Northern Territory police Facebook posts, while comments are flagged as disabled when moderators are unavailable on NSW and Queensland police pages.<\/p>\n
On South Australia Police Facebook posts, a moderator will close or limit comments on a post if previous comments breach its acceptable use standards.<\/p>\n
Indigenous leadership call<\/p>\n
Monash University deputy vice-chancellor and Noongar man, Tristan Kennedy, has conducted research into Indigenous people’s experiences of harmful content on social media.<\/p>\n
Professor Kennedy said allowing racist commentary on public forums could suggest endorsement from the hosts.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/b9fdf5cf5e60d8acc9aa1da29467f1af.jpeg\")
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Tristan Kennedy says the lack of moderation suggests the hosts endorse the comments. (Supplied: Monash University)<\/p>\n
“If they’re happening on these platforms unmoderated, especially when there’s an opportunity to moderate, then it sends a message that these organisations feel like this is an acceptable narrative to be upholding,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said the effectiveness of police moderation of social media should be investigated.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think it’s good enough for the police to simply say the measures they have got in place are adequate without having genuine and meaningful Indigenous leadership,” he said.<\/p>\n