Musk partly to blame for antisemitism on X, royal commission hears

Elon Musk is partly to blame for the rise in antisemitism on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, an online hate prevention charity told Australia's Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

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I believe the current eSafety commissioner [Julie Inman Grant] was the last Australian-based staff member at Twitter that I was able to engage with [when she worked there].

Andre Oboler of the Online Hate Prevention Institute stated that X has been generally difficult to work with, particularly from Australia, and that his organization has had no contact with the platform for years. He noted that collaboration significantly decreased after Musk's 2022 acquisition, which led to the dismissal of approximately 80% of the platform's trust and safety staff. Oboler described a "philosophical change" where the platform shifted from attempting to improve safety to embracing "absolute free speech."

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Its been quite a few years since we were able to have contact with them.

Oboler testified that many individuals previously banned from the platform for problematic behavior were reinstated, contributing to a more toxic online environment. He also pointed to Musk himself amplifying content that promotes antisemitism and hate speech. Oboler referenced a gesture Musk made at an event in January 2025, which he interpreted as potentially promoting antisemitism, although Musk later dismissed criticism as "tired."

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Its been quite a few years since we were able to have contact with them.

The commission has been examining the prevalence of antisemitic content and hate speech on social media, hearing from witnesses about the barriers they face in removing offensive posts. X Corp has not responded to repeated requests for engagement from the commission.

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Its been quite a few years since we were able to have contact with them.