Racist social media comments have been directed at Australians missing in the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet floods, prompting appeals for major platforms to take greater responsibility for removing hateful content.
As of Monday, 43 Australians are missing following flash floods triggered by a significant glacier collapse in the Himalayas. The total death toll from the disaster stands at a minimum of 810 people.
Many of the missing Australians were on pilgrimages, including to Mount Kailash in Tibet. Mainstream media outlets, such as News Corp and Channel 7, have encountered highly offensive and discriminatory comments on Facebook articles identifying the missing individuals. Some outlets, including Guardian Australia, have since restricted comments on posts about the missing.
Ben English, editor of the Daily Telegraph, described comments on a post as “abhorrent” and stated that while they are responsible for comment threads, automated filters struggle with coded racism. He confirmed that threads on sensitive stories would be closed if active moderation was not possible.
Associate Professor Tim Graham of QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre noted that hateful rhetoric has been increasing on social media platforms for a decade. He suggested that the design and algorithms of these websites reward extreme content, and platforms possess the technical infrastructure, including generative AI models, to detect nuanced harmful content at scale but are not using it for moderation in such circumstances.
Race discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman linked the comments to Australia's current debate on migrants, expressing concern about a rise in white supremacy ideology. Surinder Jain, vice-president of the Hindu Council of Australia, called for dignity for those affected by the tragedy.