Why Mark Zuckerberg should be dragged in front of this royal commission

This is so awkward. I’m writing a love letter, a note of hope and optimism, to a person I don’t know, to a mechanism I’m not even sure I trust.

But someone’s got to do it. Yes, it’s me. On Tuesday, the public hearings for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion began, and I think, I fear, I’ll be more or less holding my breath until findings are released.

I’ve never felt all that confident about royal commissions in general. Lots of talking and not much doing in the aftermath. I think you have to be a particular kind of royal commissioner to make the findings stick. Ruler above all, Kenneth Hayne, royal commissioner into the banking industry, a deliciously grumpy bugger (I’ve spoken to a couple of other former royal commissioners, and they agree with my analysis). He was famed for his refusal to shake the hand of the treasurer at the time, Josh Frydenberg, captured in an image but not a man captured by anyone for any other purpose. People tell me Virginia Bell has the same vibe. My fingers are very crossed.

The best thing about the Hayne royal commission? A shake-up of the industry, mass departures of CEOs and other culprits, a much greater sense of accountability (although it’s clear from what’s been happening with super that there is far further to go).

Can we get that kind of accountability when it comes to antisemitism? I have a list of those who ought to be named in any findings – every single politician who has tried to divide Australia on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion. That person who says Muslims are bad. That person who says Asians are bad. That person who says that African Australians are bad. That person who thinks we need to shut down all criticisms of Israel and its appalling behaviour in Gaza. Muslim Australians have as much right to feel safe and supported in this country as do Jewish Australians.

But please, let me start with the easiest category of villain first. Dear Royal Commissioner Bell, please call as a witness, for example, Mark Zuckerberg. At least get him to talk about whether his organisation Meta takes responsibility for the spread of Holocaust denial. My god, I’d love to get the tech overlords to be finally held accountable for something on their godforsaken hellholes also known as their platforms.

These folks’ businesses harvest billions from investing in hate. Joanne Gray, chair of media and communications at the University of Sydney and an expert in how corporate digital actors exercise power, has just one wish: “The centibillionaires should be dragged in front of a royal commission and held accountable.”

That’s where – and how – the antisemitism, the hate-filled violence we saw in Bondi, the rampant Nazism, the Holocaust denial, spreads. Konrad Kwiet, a University of Sydney emeritus professor and long-time historian at the Sydney Jewish Museum, tells me it’s futile to argue with Holocaust deniers – but he says measures such as hefty fines have an impact.

Kwiet says the most important thing we can do is to truly define what hate speech is, what hate crimes look like. “There needs to be a clear definition,” he says.

And beyond that, let’s try to make our society more humane – this kind of hateful behaviour flourishes when social cohesion breaks down. And Holocaust education matters to reduce ignorance and stupidity.

How do we make this society, our society, more humane? Sure, I’ve already called for the abolition of the politicians who pimp their divisiveness, who spread hatred wherever they go. It’s a shocking sign of how our society has become divided – just look at the results of the latest Scanlon Foundation report into social cohesion, released last year. Negative feelings towards Jews? Up from 9 per cent two years ago to 15 per cent last year. Thirty-five per cent of Australians said they held negative views against Muslims and 18 per cent about Christians. My goodness, people. Why would you feel that way just because of a person’s religion?

So I wanted to ask Jordana Silverstein for her hopes for this royal commission. Silverstein, a historian at the University of Melbourne and a fellow Jew, has been a target for Nazis and a long-time critic of Israeli military policy. She’s also one of our big thinkers on these complex issues.

“My dream is that antisemitism is seen as one form of racism among the many forms of racism that are pernicious in Australia – and it is dealt with in its proper context.”

She’s not convinced – considering the limited terms of this particular royal commission. But Silverstein doesn’t believe antisemitism should be treated as a special example. It should be dealt with in the same way we deal with other kinds of racism. “It’s a whole-of-Australia problem and I hope the commission recognises that.”

There is so much for Virginia Bell and senior counsel assisting the commission, Richard Lancaster, to recognise and grasp, but the toughest will be this. How to get Australians to come to terms with the Gaza problem. As Bell pointed out in her opening statement, criticism of policies pursued by the government of Israel was not, of itself, antisemitic. It’s hard to get Zionist Jews in Australia to accept that. It’s also true that too many Australians conflate being Jewish with being Zionist.

There is one thing we know already, Bell has to have an interim report in two months. As she said this morning, looking at the ways we might strengthen social cohesion in this country, “could well be the work of years, not months”.

Sing it, sister! Good luck, much love and strength, in the 10 months you have left.