RSS
Canada’s crackdown on online antisemitism is an example worth following, says the Jewish head of Australia’s Online Hate Prevention Institute
“Antisemitism 2.0.”
That’s what Andre Oboler, CEO of Australia’s Online Hate Prevention Institute, calls what is happening on online social media platforms today.
“Prior to 2008, it did not exist because the platforms did not exist,” he said. “It’s a different world today.”
Oboler, who was in Winnipeg January 27-28 to speak about online antisemitism at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, spoke with The CJN about the growing threat of online antisemitism in Australia and around the world.
Since Oct. 7, his institute, which monitors online hate, has seen a 400 percent rise in antisemitism on social media platforms.
“The biggest increases are in the platforms dominated by the far right,” he said. “But it is growing everywhere.”
While the Australian government and police forces are actively addressing antisemitic attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and businesses, they dedicate almost no time or effort to online antisemitism, he said.
On this day 13 years ago the @OnlineHate Prevention Institute was founded. pic.twitter.com/7skyXzt4Jn
— Andre Oboler (@oboler) January 23, 2025
Oberler, who is Jewish, appreciates those responses—he understands the fear being felt by the 117,000 or so Jews in Australia. “There is an antisemitic act somewhere in the country almost on a daily basis now,” he said.
In January, police in Sydney reported they foiled a possible antisemitic attack when a trailer with explosives was discovered. Cars and homes have also been vandalized with swastikas and other graffiti.
But those physical manifestations of antisemitism are made possible by the hate people see online, he added.
“Antisemitism online normalizes it,” he said, noting this is also of concern to Muslims in Australia. “People become conditioned to accept it.”
While governments in Australia are increasing the physical security for the Jewish community, they aren’t doing much about what is happening online. “Nothing is being done to address hate towards whole communities on social media,” he stated.
The Australian Jewish community is also not taking the challenge seriously, he said, noting they are more focused on antisemitism in mainstream media. While that’s important, the mainstream media is not where most younger people get their news and information, he said.
“The impact of social media on those people is not fully recognized by the community,” Oboler said.
The social media platforms aren’t much help either, since they have become reliant on artificial intelligence to decide what is hateful and what isn’t.
“Many times it decides it isn’t hate speech when it’s clearly antisemitic,” he said, adding the only recourse is try to connect with an human being to draw attention to the hateful posts.
In 2023, Facebook and Instagram stopped allowing links to news stories in protest of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which mandated that digital companies pay news organizations when readers reach a link to a news story.
The recent decrease in fact-checking at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, only makes the challenge even greater, Oboler said.
For this reason, the Facebook ban on posting news from mainstream media outlets in Canada is “ridiculous,” he stated.
“There’s no block on sharing disinformation and hate, but there’s a ban on professional journalism that can correct disinformation and counter hate,” he said.
Oboler praised the Online Harms Act, which the Liberal government had proposed before Parliament was prorogued.
The act, which has died on the Order Paper in the House of Commons due to prorogation, sought to hold online platforms accountable for harmful content and require them to create safety measures to protect users.
The bill had been criticized by the Opposition Conservatives for curbing free speech and adding a costly layer of bureaucracy.
For Oboler, the proposed legislation is a model for Australia to follow—and he hopes it can be resurrected in the future in Canada.
Ben Carr, Liberal MP for Winnipeg South Centre, isn’t sure that will happen. “Even if we do go back, I’m not sure the government would survive long enough for it to pass,” he said.
According to David Cooper, vice-president for government relations for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the organization remains concerned about online hate directed at Jews in Canada and all other targeted communities.
“While gaps need to be filled in Canada’s legislation, we urge our leaders and authorities to enforce all existing laws to protect Canadians from the impacts of hatred and radicalization,” he said.
The post Canada’s crackdown on online antisemitism is an example worth following, says the Jewish head of Australia’s Online Hate Prevention Institute appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.