The Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is hearing evidence regarding the dissemination of antisemitic content and other forms of hateful speech in the online environment.

Labor MP Josh Burns told the commission that he and his office receive thousands of abusive messages. Burns stated that his partner, Victorian Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell, is attacked because of her association with him. Burns is Jewish, while Purcell is not. Abusive messages directed at Burns included being called a "genocidal Zionist" and suggestions that an attack on his office was an inside job. Comments sent to Purcell included the statement: "You root a Zionist. You can't be trusted." In his submission, Burns wrote that antisemitic abuse directed at Purcell is compounded by misogynistic, often violent and sexualised commentary directed at her because she is a woman. Purcell collated abusive comments sent after she gave birth to her daughter, including a message containing derogatory and profane language.

Burns told the inquiry there had been more than 1,000 phone calls and 10,000 abusive social media messages directed at him and his office. He also said the Online Safety Act and social media platforms needed better ways to deal with online attacks.

Tahli Blicblau, chief executive officer of the Dor Foundation, told the inquiry that witnesses who gave evidence to the commission about their experiences of antisemitism were subjected to more abuse online. Blicblau gave the commission 275 examples of abusive posts, stating they were some of many hundreds more. The examples included explicit calls for violence and murder, dehumanising language, degrading abuse, admiration for Hitler, Holocaust glorification, and conspiracy theories about witnesses being crisis actors.

Research presented to the commission found a very low baseline rate of hateful content targeting Jews on X before the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. Following this attack, the research found an increase in hateful content targeting Jews on X, with levels staying elevated. Associate Professor Dr Matteo Vergani from Deakin University's Tackling Hate Lab told the inquiry that there was a small spike in anti-Jewish hate after the Bondi attack. Vergani also said the Bondi attack represented a huge spike in the volume of anti-Muslim hate.

Vergani stated that online hate is triggered by offline incidents, as real incidents reported in the media get circulated on social media. He said his lab's work with large sets of data tracking trends showed there should be a cost-effective way to track, intervene or prevent hate without censorship and other hard and draconian interventions.