Governments advertising was supporting the hosting of terrorist manifesto
The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) has put an end to advertising from the State Governments in NSW, Victoria and South Australia appeared alongside an antisemitic terrorist manifesto.
Dr Andre Oboler
The taxpayer-funded advertising would have contributed to the revenue of the site hosting the manifesto and Google who placed the advertising there. The governments would have been unaware that this is where their advertising dollars were being spent before OHPI contacted them.
The manifesto the advertising appeared beside was from the attack carried out last Yom Kippur targeting the synagogue in Halle, Germany. In December the Online Hate Prevention Institute published a detailed report on this attack and its connection to other terrorist attacks including the Christchurch attack, the attack on the synagogue in Poway and a Walmart in El Paso.
Dr Andre Oboler told J-Wire: “We found this copy of the manifesto last October and have been pushing for it to be removed ever since. Late last night we spotted the advertisement for this joint government project. We immediately notified the site and provided recommendations for action. Just as we did last month when an Australian financial services firm was being advertised next to this manifesto.”
First thing yesterday morning the staff at the government project site acted on OHPI’s advice. Not only was the site blocked from receiving further advertising from the project, but the terrorist manifesto itself was finally taken offline. An hour later OHPI appeared before a Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into anti-vilification laws where they explained the issue they had tackled overnight and the successful resolution. It was one of the many examples of OHPI’s impact in tackling antisemitism and keeping people safe.
Also raised was the problem of 94 different editions of Mein Kampf available from the Dymocks website, including one which stated in its description that it was the official translation paid for by the Nazis. The blurb stated “This book shows the foundations of White Resistance and White Nationalism. It is the foundation and seed for the preservation of our Race”. This is the same racist ideology seen almost a year ago in the Christchurch attack.
The presentation to the Victorian Parliament also looked at other issues, including the Online Hate Prevention Institute’s current campaign on racism against Indigenous Australians. It follows last month’s campaign on Holocaust denial.
“It’s getting worse online and there is always so much more for us to do. We told the parliament how our efforts, recognised as leading work internationally, are constrained due to a shortage of resources. We can only hope governments and donors, who can readily see the impact we’ve had over the last 8 years, will step forward. The spread of online antisemitism is fuelling extremism and while education is important, that alone is not enough.”
In June OHPI will be running a month-long campaign on antisemitism. The fundraiser to support this campaign won’t be launched until the start of May, but there is an option to donate to the campaign ahead of the Fundraiser’s launch.
Congratulations OHPI. Neo-Nazi hate must be exposed.
Any chance that OHPI’s campaign in June will touch on groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir?
Paul, if you have links to antisemitic material in social media from HuT please let us know. As you see from this article, we are continuing to tackle antisemitic material (and other issues) on an on going basis along work on our various campaigns. If there is something there now, we don’t need to wait until June to respond to it. What we cover in June will depend on what people report to us at that time.