Conspiracies flooded social media within minutes of Bondi massacre

Within 15 minutes of Sunday’s deadly shooting at a Bondi Beach Chanukah celebration, antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming Jews orchestrated their own massacre were already spreading across social media platforms.

By the time authorities confirmed 15 dead in what officials called a targeted terrorist attack on the Jewish community, online hate monitors had documented hundreds of posts denying, justifying, or exploiting the tragedy.

The Online Hate Prevention Institute, an Australian charity established in 2012 to combat online extremism, tracked 265 problematic posts in the attack’s immediate aftermath. The findings paint a disturbing picture of how quickly tragedy becomes ammunition for conspiracy theorists and extremists.

“We began monitoring social media and gathering data within 15 minutes of it occurring,” the institute reported Wednesday. All items were verified by experts and archived for sharing with social media platforms.

Conspiracy Theories Take Hold

The most common response blamed Jews themselves for the attack. Posts claimed the Jewish community or Israel staged the massacre to generate sympathy or support for Israeli policies.

One widely shared image used a juice box, coded antisemitism referencing Hitler-era memes, to suggest Jews would “stop at nothing, not even killing their own people” to support Israel.

An Australian user went further, writing the attack wasn’t real and appearing to look forward to what they called a “real” massacre of Australian Jews.

Other posts suggested Israel’s intelligence service Mossad orchestrated the shooting, with one user calling growing scepticism of official reports a positive sign. The post encouraged others to “keep noticing” – a coded antisemitic phrase referring to conspiracy theories about Jewish control.

Victims Blamed for Their Deaths

Multiple users attempted to justify the killings by attacking victims’ character. Posts described murdered attendees as “genocide enthusiasts”, claiming the Chanukah event was actually a “genocide supporters’ gathering using Hanukkah as cover.”

One post singled out Rabbi Eli Schlanger, noting he organised the event, as though leadership of a religious celebration warranted his death. A media outlet highlighted another victim’s travel to Israel as if that explained why they were shot.

“This Has Nothing to Do with Jewish Celebrations”

Despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirming the attack as terrorism targeting the Jewish community, some users insisted Jews weren’t the intended victims.

“This has nothing to do with the Jewish celebrations!” one post claimed, echoing a pattern the Hate Prevention Institute has documented after previous antisemitic incidents.

Others minimised the significance of Australia’s second-deadliest mass shooting. A Reddit user immediately worried “the retaliations might be worse than the attack as is often the case,” shifting focus from 15 deaths and dozens of injuries.

Collective Blame and Islamophobia

Many posts blamed Israel for the attack or cited Israeli government actions when discussing the shooting, suggesting Australian Jews bear collective responsibility for a foreign government’s policies.

“This is a form of antisemitism,” the institute’s report notes, adding that such rhetoric holds diaspora Jewish communities accountable for actions beyond their control.

The online response also included substantial Islamophobia. Scores of users posted “religion of peace” sarcastically after learning the perpetrators were radicalized by Islamic State ideology.

Anti-Immigration Backlash

Users blamed immigration policies for the attack. Comments on the prime minister’s statement included “No more immigrants its ruining our peace” and references to “3rd world germs”.

Some promoted neo-Nazi groups, suggesting racial minorities were responsible and extremism necessary to prevent future violence.

Government conspiracy theories also emerged, with users claiming officials orchestrated the attack to justify stricter gun laws. Multiple comments accused Albanese of having “blood on his hands,” possibly referencing his recognition of Palestinian statehood earlier this year.

Tracking Hate in Real Time

The Online Hate Prevention Institute uses a methodology called “coding hate” to categorise problematic content. The approach was previously employed for Melbourne synagogue attacks and the 2019 Yom Kippur shooting in Halle, Germany.

Content categories included antisemitism, false flag claims, Islamophobia, attempts to justify or minimise the attack, anti-immigration rhetoric, and government conspiracies. Individual posts often fit multiple categories.

Dr. Andre Oboler, the institute’s chief executive, is an adjunct associate professor at La Trobe Law School and expert member of Australia’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

The institute is conducting ongoing monitoring across ten social media platforms to measure how the massacre affects baseline antisemitism levels. Recent data shows antisemitism has remained elevated since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.

“We Need to Stop Ceding Ground”

Oboler called for fundamental change in how Australia addresses hate speech and extremism.

“Australia has become a country where excuses are made rather than action taken,” he wrote in a recent opinion piece for ABC Religion and Ethics. “Instead of confronting hate and calling it out, we give it a wide berth so as to avoid confrontation. That approach leads to the kind of bloodshed we’ve just witnessed.”

He rejected calls for gun law reform as the primary response, arguing the attack was ideologically motivated. “It may reduce the risk of a random attack, but the Chanukah massacre was not a random attack. It was targeted. It was driven by an ideology of hate,” he told Jewish News Syndicate.

The institute plans to release a full report with policy recommendations in mid-January. It has called for similar longitudinal monitoring of Islamophobia, having conducted pioneering research on anti-Muslim hate in 2013 that was later cited by the United Nations.

The findings underscore how tragedies targeting minority communities are immediately weaponized online, often before accurate information is available, to spread conspiracy theories, justify violence, and recruit for extremist movements.

For the full interim report, see https://ohpi.org.au/bondi-beach-chanukah-massacre/