Social media platforms ‘monetise gore and fringe content’, eSafety regulator tells antisemitism commission

Julie Inman Grant says eSafety ‘fought hard’ to get footage of the Bondi attack ‘refused classification’, making it illegal to distribute in Australia. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP View image in fullscreen Julie Inman Grant says eSafety ‘fought hard’ to get footage of the Bondi attack ‘refused classification’, making it illegal to distribute in Australia. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Social media platforms ‘monetise gore and fringe content’, eSafety regulator tells antisemitism commission Julie Inman Grant singles out X when giving evidence to royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Mainstream platforms are fighting to distribute and monetise “gore” and “fringe” content, the eSafety watchdog has told the antisemitism royal commission. Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, on Thursday singled out X, telling the inquiry her office has to fight its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, to try to keep footage – including some posted of the Bondi terror attack – restricted or off the platform. Social media platforms are spending more to challenge regulation while spending less on trust and safety teams, she said, and they feel protected by the anti-regulation Trump administration. Josh Burns says partner Georgie Purcell faces antisemitic abuse because he is Jewish, commission hears Read more Inman Grant detailed various complexities the commission has faced when attempting to have websites – including paedophile and suicide-incitement sites – taken down, and when having footage of the Christchurch massacre removed. She said X pushed back about Australians’ access to the Charlie Kirk assassination video, the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train, and the church stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Wakeley, New South Wales. She said eSafety “fought hard” to get footage of the Bondi attack “refused classification” , making it illegal to distribute in Australia. But X told her “it’s not any worse than you would see in a gore movie”. “And I said: ‘I can’t think of anything more horrific for the family members and the Australian Jewish community’,” she said. “So we fought really hard and we were able to get them to agree to keep that refused classification. “But these are mainstream platforms fighting for the right and the ability to distribute and monetise gore and fringe content.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Of the eight cases the regulator is now fighting with X, six have been instigated by X, she said. The ongoing third block of hearings for the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is focusing on the role of social media and traditional media. Inman Grant said antisemitism and hate speech were not explicitly covered in the eSafety commissioner’s mandate, which covers cyberbullying, adult cyber-abuse, image-based abuse and illegal and restricted online content. Just 2% of the complaints about adult cyber-abuse made to her office