Elon Musk's X platform slammed by Australian royal commission over hate content

Australia's anti‑antisemitism royal commission criticised Elon Musk's social‑media platform X for allowing graphic footage of the Bondi Hanukkah terror attack and for using Holocaust imagery to justify its stance. Counsel Richard Lancaster stated that “X has demonstrated a complete lack of interest in providing transparency concerning a topic as important as keeping Australians safe from the proliferation of terrorist and violent extremist material, including extreme anti‑Semitism.”

The commission highlighted X’s refusal to appear before the inquiry and a steep drop in its removal rate for antisemitic posts – from 54 % in 2024 to just above 29 % in 2026 – making it the platform with the lowest removal rate in Australia. Critics, including the Online Hate Prevention Institute and CyberWell, said the platform’s conduct raises questions about its social licence to operate in the country.

Musk’s X was also compared unfavourably with other platforms such as Meta, Facebook and YouTube, which have taken action on similar hateful content. The commission urged that Australian law must be able to secure accountability for harms caused by social‑media platforms.