Meta fronts Australia's antisemitism royal commission

Meta became the first of the big tech platforms to face Australia's antisemitism royal commission in person.

Who appeared for Meta

Meta became the first major platform to front the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in person, with two representatives appearing on 6 July 2026.verifiedVerified Sourced from Social media in the dock at anti-Semitism probe (AAP, Ben McKay and Lucinda Garbutt-Young). The company's US-based director of content policy, Benjamin Good, took part voluntarily by video link because he is a foreign citizen.verifiedVerified Sourced from Social media in the dock at anti-Semitism probe (AAP, Ben McKay and Lucinda Garbutt-Young).

Facebook Australia policy director Mia Garlick also appeared before the inquiry.verifiedVerified Sourced from Social media in the dock at anti-Semitism probe (AAP, Ben McKay and Lucinda Garbutt-Young). Meta said it had provided approximately 650 documents and three statements to the royal commission.

Meta's platforms reach millions of Australians each day through Facebook, Instagram and Threads and the messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger.

What the commission is and who called it

The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is a formal federal royal commission established under the Albanese Labor Government. The Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, issued the Letters Patent that established it on 9 January 2026.

Former High Court justice the Hon Virginia Bell AC SC was appointed Royal Commissioner. Its terms of reference include examining the circumstances of the Bondi terror attack of 14 December 2025 and the drivers of antisemitism in Australia.

The inquiry followed the Bondi attack, in which 15 people were killed at a Jewish festival. The third hearing block ran in Sydney between 29 June and 10 July 2026.

The platforms that would not engage

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC told the inquiry that even the powers of the royal commission could not compel a representative of X Corp to appear or provide a statement. He said the fringe platform Gab had been "openly hostile" in its communication with the inquiry.

Lancaster told the commission the current situation was "very unsatisfactory". He said the inquiry would consider whether the eSafety Commissioner or another regulator "should be given greater powers to regulate or compel the cooperation of social media platforms that are based offshore".

How much hate the platforms remove

The Online Hate Prevention Institute gave the commission figures on how often platforms acted on reported content. Its executive director Andre Oboler said Meta removed 54 per cent of the 950 Facebook posts reported to it, while TikTok removed 64 per cent of more than 400 videos reported.

Of the 1,700 posts flagged to X for hate speech or offensive content, just 24 per cent were removed, according to the institute's analysis. Oboler said X was "generally difficult to work with" and that his organisation had not had consistent contact with the platform since Elon Musk bought it in 2022.

The regulation question

Commissioner Virginia Bell AC SC pressed a Department of Infrastructure official, Sarah Vandenbroek, on whether a proposed digital duty of care could work against offshore platforms. Bell asked whether, without any requirement that platforms have an Australian presence, consideration had been given to "the effectiveness of the proposed digital duty of care to protect Australians from online hate".

The commission heard the mandated digital duty of care, recommended in a 2024 review of the Online Safety Act, remained more than 18 months away. Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC asked Vandenbroek to explain why it had taken 18 months for the government to issue its response to the review.