Extremists are using coded language and memes to evade detection when posting antisemitic content on social media, a royal commission has heard.<\/p>\n
Far-right individuals have also adopted memes as a way to push “more palatable” antisemitism, which is less likely to be picked up by moderators.<\/p>\n
Harmful conspiracy sustained anti-Jewish hate online, commission hears<\/a><\/p>\n The royal commission has heard new research which found anti-Jewish hate increased online both after October 7, 2023 and the Bondi Beach terror attack in December.<\/p>\n Hannah Rose, an extremism researcher from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on its third day of hearings.<\/p>\n “We see that extremists use different codes, for example they’ll change a letter in a word to a number to avoid content moderation,” she testified.<\/p>\n “They’ll use emojis, they’ll use memes, so a lot of inferred \u2026 antisemitism.<\/p>\n “[It is] only necessarily identifiable to an individual who knows the context of that meme already and is able to interpret it in that way.<\/p>\n “And antisemitism is not always illegal, it’s not always in violation of platform terms of service.”<\/p>\n “Extremist actors are quite good at knowing what does and doesn’t cross the line, and so they’re able to just stay under that line of detection on a mainstream platform.”<\/p>\n Read more of our royal commission coverage:<\/p>\n Bondi terror attack survivor received ‘influx of hate’ hours after shooting<\/a><\/p>\n MP Josh Burns reveals toll of online abuse after office vandalised<\/a><\/p>\n Royal commission spotlight falls on ‘unregulated cesspool of disinformation’<\/a><\/p>\n The October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas let “antisemitism out of the box”, Ms Rose told the commission.<\/p>\n “Immediately after the [October 7] attack, we set out to analyse the volume of antisemitic content on YouTube videos about the conflict,” she said.<\/p>\n “And we found a 51-fold increase in the volume of antisemitic content on those videos.”<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n In 2025, she noted, there were several spikes in antisemitic content posted by Australian users.<\/p>\n “The 13th of June, 2025, was the day that Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and military bases, the start of that initial war between Israel and Iran,” she said.<\/p>\n “And on the 22nd of June was when the US joined in.”<\/p>\n