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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.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.