306 Hawthorn Road, Caulfield S. Vic. 3162 E info@ohpi.org.au W: www.ohpi.org.

au T (61-3) 9272 5594

Annual Report 2013

Copyright 2013 Online Hate Prevention Institute

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary................................................................................................................................. 2 Praise for OHPIs work (from published OHPI reports)........................................................................... 4 What we achieved .................................................................................................................................. 5 Major Works ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Public Campaigns .............................................................................................................................. 12 Presentations & Events ..................................................................................................................... 16 Stakeholder engagement .................................................................................................................. 19 Volunteers ......................................................................................................................................... 22 Publications and Media..................................................................................................................... 23 Establishing the Institute ...................................................................................................................... 26 Government Registration: ................................................................................................................ 26 Internal Governance: ........................................................................................................................ 26 Establishment Administration .......................................................................................................... 26 About The Institute ............................................................................................................................... 27 Vision................................................................................................................................................. 27 Mission .............................................................................................................................................. 27 Key stakeholders ............................................................................................................................... 27 Principal Activities ............................................................................................................................. 27 The Board of Directors .......................................................................................................................... 28 History of OHPI.................................................................................................................................. 30 Online Hate Prevention Fund................................................................................................................ 30 Statement of beliefs.............................................................................................................................. 31

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Executive Summary
The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) is Australias first Harm Prevention Charity entirely dedicated to the problem of Internet based antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, hate against other groups and the cyberbullying of individuals. This online hate can lead to suicide, self harm, mental harm and the exclusion of targeted people and groups from society which damages our society as a whole. OHPI grew out of part of the work previously undertaken by the Zionist Federation of Australias Community Internet Engagement Project (CIE). The CIE project undertook some of the worlds leading research and advocacy into the problem of online antisemitism. Under the CIE project Dr Andre Oboler, now OHPIs CEO, briefed an Italian Parliamentary hearing into antisemitism, served as co-chair of the Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism (run by the Israeli Government), and was an expert panellist for the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitisms (ICCA) conference in Ottawa hosted by the Canadian Government.1 This important work has continued, and as CEO of OHPI Dr Oboler: presented in Poland at the 11th International Seminar on Antisemitism; presented at the World Jewish Congress Assembly in Hungary; and continued to serve as co-chair of the Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism and as a member of the Global Forums steering group. OHPI continued the CIE projects tradition of world class research, campaigns, and analysis into antisemitism. OHPIs first report led to the removal of over 1,500 antisemitic YouTube videos. Another report provided the first systematic review of Facebooks treatment of antisemitic content, highlighting that it wasnt just Holocaust denial they refused to remove, but also classical antisemitism such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Campaigns highlighted Facebooks rejection of serious hate, such as the picture of Anne Frank with the caption Whats that burning? Oh its my family. OHPI also responded to New Antisemitism, where images compared Israel to Nazi Germany or called for the destruction of the Jewish state. Under OHPI the work against hate expanded beyond antisemitism. A major report into Aboriginal Memes examined online hate against Indigenous Australians, primarily on Facebook. OHPI also presented on this work at a symposium into racism run by the Immigration Museum in Melbourne and in a guest lecture for law students at Monash University. Another report examined hate directed against the ANZACs and military veterans in the lead up to ANZAC day 2013. During the first year work also began on a major report into online hate against the Muslim community. Campaigns were run to support both reports and the report into hate against Indigenous Australians was promoted by SBS News. OHPIs reports have also included recommendations for change by social media companies which have been considered and sometimes adopted helping to mitigate the problem. Perhaps the most distressing parts of OHPIs work, has been a series of reports into Facebook pages mocking the death of children who have died in tragic circumstances. These reports are usually written within days of the childrens death. These reports have been shared with law enforcement and relevant government departments. The distress these pages cause to the family and friends of those who have died is obvious and a stronger response is urgently needed to tackle this problem. Those behind these pages appear consider themselves above the law and attack new victims each
1

The ICCA also produced the London Declaration against Antisemitism which leaders of both Australian major parties have now signed up to

Page |3 time an opportunity presents itself. OHPI itself has also come under attack itself, with fake pages and profile set up to attack the organisation and its CEO. Hate pages have been created which claim to belong to or to be related to OHPI. Harassing phone calls and physical mail have also been received by OHPI. The key project of OHPI, Fight Against Hate, remains on hold as there are insufficient resources to take it forwards. Fight Against Hate will be a game changer; it will make social media companies publically accountable for their performance in area of removing hate. It will allow governments, NGOs, educators and communities to make evidence based decisions when considering approaches to combating online hate. Work on at least the first steps to implementing Fight Against Hate should begin in the coming year. OHPI is a new organisation addressing an important and growing problem for society. We are doing so on a minimal budget and with very limited resources, but we are having a significant impact. Our work reduces the risk of serious harm to individuals, increases community resilience and promotes multiculturalism. Our first year has been a significant success and our biggest challenge for the coming year is finding the financial backing to grow sustainably. Despite our excellent work, we are barely scratching the surface of a problem that has catastrophic effects on individuals, particularly children, as well as on many groups within society. This year we hope to secure support from governments, major donors and the public to significantly increase OHPIs capacity so we can make even more of an impact against online hate and the harm it causes.

Andre Oboler CEO, Online Hate Prevention Institute August 2013

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Praise for OHPIs work (from published OHPI reports)

Jeremy Jones AM, winner of the 2007 Australian Human Rights Medal: [OHPIs report in to Aboriginal Memes] is a timely and significant contribution to an important debate - how we can maximise free speech and communication while protecting victims of abuses of speech". Sol Bellear, Chairperson, Aboriginal Medical Service Cooperative Limited: Dr Andre Oboler has produced a definitive response to the alarming proliferation of racist content on Facebook and other social media platforms such as Meme Generator. [OHPIs Aboriginal Memes Report] is a thoroughly researched and academically robust document that should be read with urgency by elected parliamentary representatives, those charged with the carriage of public policy and all responsible public commentators. Ronald Eissens, General Director Magenta Foundation - Dutch Complaints Bureau for Cyber Hate & co-founder International Network Against Cyber Hate: "OHPI's report on Aboriginal Memes & Online Hate is a landmark... for the first time, the growing problem of racist memes is addressed and analyzed, urging those who facilitate the memes to take action." Peter Wertheim, Executive Director, Executive Council of Australian Jewry: The promotion of racism in the public domain undermines, and can ultimately destroy, the sense of safety and security of targeted people or groups and also adversely affect social harmony. [OHPIs] report highlights the fact that social media platform providers lack the knowledge and insight into racism to enable them to make an informed decision... [OHPIs] report has rendered an important public service. Jessie Daniels, author of Cyber Racism (2009) & Professor, Public Health and Sociology, City University of New York (CUNY): "[OHPIs] report is an important document in the effort to stem the tide of 'Hate 2.0'... Perhaps most importantly, this report takes on the social media juggernaut that is Facebook and seeks to hold it to account for its role building racism into their user interface. This is a timely, pointed and much-needed critique of the way the culture of Internet humor acts as cover for the continuation of racism." David Matas, author of Bloody Words: Hate and Free Speech (2000) & Co-chair Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism: "[OHPIs] report is a useful, instructive guide to combating hate on the internet, not just attacks against aborigines found on Facebook but against any targeted group found on any social media." Priscilla Brice-Weller, Managing Director, All Together Now: "[OHPIs] report provides evidencebased and achievable recommendations for all sectors to respond to these hateful memes." Dr Andrew Jakubowicz, Professor of Sociology, University of Technology Sydney & Lead Chief Investigator, CRaCR ARC Linkage Project: As [OHPIs] report demonstrates, Governments has yet to show it has the capacity to understand let alone respond to the issues raised by the phenomenon. Zalman Kastel, National Director, Together for Humanity Foundation: The issue addressed in [OHPIs] report must not be underestimated. The perception of social acceptability of hate has a real impact on attitudes and behaviours, and in the past has been found to result in increased violence and fear... The compelling material, combined with meticulous research makes an important contribution to the cause of combating racism.

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What we achieved
Major Works
Multiple and Severe Hate Speech on YouTube OHPI exposed a design flaw in YouTube that facilitated the propagation of hateful material. Technical recommendations to address this flaw and mitigate the risk were published and shared with YouTube. The problem occurs when a YouTube user is able to use automated tools to upload large volumes of files to the YouTube service. OHPI demonstrated that such tools were being used for the purpose of spreading hate speech. This creates as a problem as hate videos can be uploaded many times faster than the content could reasonable be reviewed. OHPI recommended the automatic suspension (pending review of individual videos) of accounts that rapidly uploading content which users then flag as inappropriate. A heuristic approach was suggested to identify such accounts. In the specific case OHPI examined, over 1700 videos were uploaded in a 24 hour period. Over 1,500 of these were hateful content and the majority were antisemitic, though other minority groups were also attacked. OHPI engaged constructively with YouTube and the identified account was removed within 24 hours of YouTube receiving a draft of OHPIs report. If implemented OHPIs recommendations should enable YouTube to more effectively mitigate against such problems in the future. Aboriginal Memes on Facebook and MemeGenerator OHPI took a leading role in documenting and analysing an explosion of hate directed again Aboriginal Australians and largely spread through Facebook. Government Ministers, Government Agencies, NGOs and grassroots activists all took a stand against the spread of Aboriginal Memes. OHPIs contribution was, however, unique and a significant asset in the fight to control this spread of hate.
An Aboriginal Meme

Page |6 OHPIs contribution to the work against the spread of Aboriginal Memes included: regular communication and sharing of information with the Australian Human Rights Commission and other stakeholders; the publication of an in-depth report analysing the situation and those responsible; and the tricks employed by those spreading hate to make monitoring difficult and discourage those standing up against racism. The report provides complete coverage of the creation and spread of Aboriginal Memes through the Meme Generator website and then through Facebook. It exposes the involvement of griefers who seek to destroy the online experience of other users and who not only spread hate but pose a threat to platform operators as they seek to driver users away. The report documented attacks on activists who stood up against racism, including the creators of two petitions demanding that Aboriginal Memes be removed. OHPI and OHPIs CEO also came under direct attack multiple times. Those responsible for Aboriginal Memes also engaged in other forms of hate including antisemitism and attacks against African Americans. The report demonstrated the persistence of a few individuals set on promoting hate, and the need for a stronger response than that currently provided by Facebook. OHPIs report assesses the role of different stakeholders in responding to the incident and provides recommendations to better respond to such problems in the future. The report has been published as a book and is available as a free download. As discussed later in this report, presentations based on OHPIs work on this topic have been given for Monash University, the Melbourne Immigration Museum, and an international conference into antisemitism and xenophobia in Poland. OHPI has also been working closely with the Aboriginal Medical Association (Redfern) in support of these complaints against Facebook over this matter which is being mediated through the Australian Human Rights Commission. OHPI has also assisted with the creation of a DMCA copyright infringement notice that has been issued against MemeGenerators web hosting company by the copyright holder of one of the images used in many of the Aboriginal Memes.

Page |7 Antisemitism on Facebook OHPIs report Recognizing hate speech antisemitism on Facebook tracked the response to a range of antisemitic items on Facebook over a period of time. Some of the items were originally listed in OHPIs 2012 report into Aboriginal Memes and Online Hate, others were new. The report shows how some items were removed by Facebook while all complaints against other examples were rejected. The report examines what sort of content Facebook removed and what they refused to remove. The findings show that Facebook does not really understand antisemitism and has trouble recognizing certain well known types of antisemitism. The report became the basis for a complaint against Facebook before the Australian Human Rights Commission by the ECAJ, Australias peak Jewish community body. The content was eventually all removed.

The report shows that Facebook had difficulty identifying racism directly based on Nazi propaganda; consistently refused to recognize pages promoting the famous antisemitic forgery used to inspire mass killings, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as hate speech; and failed to take action on new antisemitism which uses Holocaust inversion to paint Israel and Jews as Nazis. These blind spots can be added to the known difficulty Facebook has in recognizing Holocaust denial as Hate Speech.

The OHPI press release noted that The items that remain online are there as a result of a deliberate decision by Facebook to dismiss the concerns that have been expressed to them over these items. Having shared an early draft of our new report with Facebook at the start of February, none of the items discussed in this report should take Facebook by surprise. The decision not to take action on certain types of content, like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, is clearly a matter of Facebook policy, and not an isolated mistake by junior staff. The report was released on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and hard copies were distributed in Jerusalem at the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism. The report received extensive press coverage and a two page summary was published by the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism.

Page |8 Attacking the ANZACs and military veterans on Facebook In the lead-up to ANZAC day 2013 an internet troll began creating a series of pages mocking ANZAC veterans. The pages were designed to cause public outrage in both Australia and New Zealand. The pages had few fans, and most of the fans they had on inspection appeared to be recently created fake accounts. Most, if not all, of the fake accounts appear to belong to the page creator. While our veterans can take comfort in the fact that those who would support such attacks are few and far between, the outrage felt by the community was significant. OHPIs report documented the first four pages created in this run of incidents. The report addressed each Facebook page in two parts: the first examining the content attacking ANZAC veterans; and the second considers the secondary attack that occurs when the 'griefer' subsequently discloses their identity by impersonating another. The identity information provided whether it is a name, a Facebook profile link, or a phone number typically points to a real person who has been selected by the griefer as a target. The hate pages were designed to generate anger and a desire for steps to be taken against the person behind the page, and the provision of identity information then discloses a clear and immediate target creating a real danger. OHPIs CEO Dr Andre Oboler was one of the targets of secondary attack. Global Forum Report into Online Antisemitism OHPIs CEO Dr Andre Oboler, together with Adv. David Matas, produced a major report into online antisemitism on behalf of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism. The report Online Antisemitism: A systematic review from the Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism was published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2013. The report begins by introducing a taxonomy known as TEMPIS, which is based on technical capabilities, to the discussion of online hate in general and online antisemitism in particular. Recognising that existing technologies are rapidly changing, and new technologies continue to emerge, the taxonomy aims to assist in the formation of policies and laws that are general enough to withstand the test of time, yet still specific enough to be practically applied. The report also endorses the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism as a guide for those making decisions on what consistes antisemitism. The report goes on to broadly list areas of concern by themes and platform; gives details of key antisemitic online incidents, improving understanding regarding the manifestations of onlinehate; discusses various efforts to combat online hate including reports, conferences and projects; and concludes with proposals and recommendations, and a list of open challenges.

Page |9 Mocking the dead OHPI have monitored a number of Facebook pages that have been set up to cause emotional distress to those close to people who have died in tragic circumstances. Children whose deaths were targeted for ridicule include Amanda Todd, Terri Leticq, Jackson Doolan, Sheridan Mifsud and William Bligh. OHPI also documented pages mocking the death of journalist Jill Meagher, fire fighter Peter Cramer and the British soldier Lee Rigby. The reports on these pages have been shared with law enforcement and relevant government departments, but due to the nature of the content have not been publically released. In many cases the content is extremely graphic. The pages typically appear within days of the victims death. Amanda Todd was a 15 year old Canadian girl who eventually hung herself as a result of cyberbullying. A failed suicide attempt, where she swallowed bleach, led to people uploading pictures of bottles of bleach and tagging her in them. After her death a Facebook page, whose largest fan base were Victorian school children, was set up to belittle her death. It did this by suggesting it wasnt fair how she got all the sympathy when Hitler also committed suicide and no one was upset for Hitler. OHPI published an article on this page in Jerusalem Post noting the use of Hitler (and Facebooks reluctance to remove Holocaust denial) as a means to spread other forms of hate with impunity.

Terri Leticq was the 16 year old driver of a stolen car that crashed at speed on Victorias roads, killing Terri, Brandon Johnson (aged 12) and Yasmein Irfan (aged 14).2 Three other children survived. The story was widely reported in the news, after which a page mocking the death of the children was created on Facebook. The page Force Terri Leticq's family to replace the car that she stole belittled the loss of life insisting that the real issue was the loss of the stolen vehicle and the need for compensation to be
2

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/terri-leticq-brandon-johnson-and-yasmein-irfan-killed-in-coolaroocrash-were-under-the-states-watch/story-e6frg6n6-1226513313944

P a g e | 10 paid to its owners. The page was decorated with pictures of Terri in the theme of speed racer and jokes about the children being dead. The Terri Leticq page also claimed that it belonged to OHPI and a comment was posted on the OHPI page claiming Andre Oboler was a founder of this hate page.

Jackson Doolan was a 17 year old who was hit by a train while trying to escape from a confrontation with three men in December 2012.3 A page was set up mocking his death as the act of a Train wrestler extraordinaire and claiming to raise fund to protect the trains. There are strong indications the page was set by the same people who created the page mocking Terri Leticqs death. The page was taken down by Facebook relatively promptly but was soon recreated. The first version of the Jackson Doolan included a post implying OHPIs CEO, Dr Andre Oboler, was involved with the page. The second featured a comment claiming people could call the page creator and giving a mangled version of OHPIs office phone number.

Sheridan Mifsud was a Victorian girl who committed suicide at the age of 16 in March 2013. She had been fighting depression for some time and had been video blogging as a form of self help. The page set up to mock her death included images of self harm. Her father interacted with the page and was taunted and then banned. William John Bligh was a 9 year old Aboriginal child from Queensland who died shortly after a hospital examined him and sent him home. The Queensland health ministry is investigating the death. The page mocking William's death was titled Justice For William John Bligh. It was created on February 26th and closed by Facebook on March 4th. A fake protest page, also created by the same people called Shut down the fake 'Justice For William John Bligh' page was created on March 2nd. The protest page was a bait and switch, gathering those opposed to the hate on the original page, and then changing its nature as it spread hateful content. The page used Williams picture extensively, in some cases editing it to look partially decomposed. Other posts were racist in nature calling William a monkey. A number of Aboriginal Memes were also posted to the page. The general nature of the page was that it was funny William had died.
3

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/dead-teen-was-turning-life-around/story-fndo45r11226540671507

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Jill Meagher was raped and murdered in a Melbourne laneway in September 2012. At the time of her death she was 29 and working for the ABC. The case received intense media attention.

Peter Cramer was a fire fighter who died while assisting with backburning operations in Tasmania. A page mocking his death made extensive use of images of him burning and generally made light of bushfires.

Lee Rigby was a British soldier who was hacked to death in London in May 2013. A page mocking his death was created, OHPI believes by a person in Queensland. OHPI liaised with British Police sharing background information with them. Over 100 complaints had been lodged with the Metropolitan police over the page.

General Monitoring A core part of OHPIs work is monitoring and archiving examples of various forms of online late and assisting key stake holders who may wish to pursue some of these instances of hate. OHPI has not sought to document a vast quantity of online hate occurrence, but rather to focus on more serious incidents and on developing a wide ranging archive of examples.

OHPI has also sought to focus on examples which highlight systematic flaws in social media platforms which could be corrected. OHPI also provides recommendations for improvement which are then shared with platform providers.

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Public Campaigns
Campaign for better Quality Control on Facebook Complaints Systematic monitoring by OHPI showed that valid complaints to Facebook by users were being routinely dismissed. A number of antisemitic images which were report to Facebook and dismissed by them highlighted the problem. OHPI prepared a poster campaign exposing Facebooks poor response. The posters showed examples of images that have been reported to Facebook, and the evidence that Facebook had dismissed the complaint without taking any action on it. The posters were shared as online images and copies were provided to the JCCV who in turn shared them with Victorian Members of State Parliament. OHPI also created a petition calling for a quality control process to be implemented for Facebooks complaint management process, and right of appeal when complaints are dismissed. The petition gathered 592 signatures. Removing Aboriginal Memes The primary source of Aboriginal Memes has been a site called Meme Generator. Over 300 different Aboriginal Memes have been created on this site, all based on a single core template. With the support of grassroots activists, OHPI found and began a dialogue with the owner of the copyright in the image that is at the core of the Aboriginal Memes template. With support from the Aboriginal Medical Service (Redfern) and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, OHPI put together a takedown notice against MemeGenerators hosting provider under the USs Digital Millennium Copy Right Act. The notice was signed and sent to the provider by the copyright holder.

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One of Four OHPI Campaign Posters

P a g e | 14 National Anti-Racism Campaign OHPI is an official supporter of the National Anti-Racism Campaign which is run by the Australian Human Rights Commission: Racism. It Stops with Me. Our major report into antisemitism was released on the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and was branded as part of OHPIs contribution to the national campaign.

Involvement in this campaign in year one has led to the national campaign promoting OHPIs campaigning work at the start of OHPIs second year:

Campaign on All Forms of Antisemitism Following the release of OHPIs report into antisemitism we started a petition that noted Facebook wasnt recognising many types of antisemitism documented in the report. This ranged from memes based on Nazi propaganda to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. As Facebook wouldnt recognize these forms of hate speech, Facebook users' complaints were being rejected and the content remained online. The petition also draws attention to OHPIs report, the many examples of antisemitism on Facebook it included, and the 14 recommendations for Facebook which would help the company better deal with antisemitism and other forms of hate speech in the future. The text of the petition read: We call on Facebook to remove the examples of hate speech listed in OHPI's report, "Recognizing Hate Speech: Antisemitism on Facebook", and to implement the report's recommendations to better prevent the spread of antisemitism and other forms of hate speech in the future. In total 711 people signed the petition and it also received media coverage, particularly in Israel, where it was picked up by both the both English and Hebrew press.

P a g e | 15 ANZAC Day Campaign Following a report into attacks on soldiers and veterans on Facebook, OHPI made contact with a number of ANZAC Day support pages on Facebook. When Catherine Deveny spoke out against ANZAC day on Twitter these pages were flooded with opposition to her comments, and a growing sense of anger. The comments against Deveny flowed in so rapidly administrators of the pages could not keep up, some status updates were receiving thousands of responses. Some of the comments constituted serious hate speech. OHPI worked with the page administrators to create a petition that allowed people to express opposition to Catherine Deveny while also committing to avoiding hate speech. The petition stated: Catherine Deveny has missed the point about ANZAC Day which is not a celebration or glorification of war, but rather a day to remember all Australian and New Zealand armed forces personnel who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. It is a day recalling the spirit of ANZAC which is based in courage, mateship, and sacrifice and is a fundamental part of the national identity of Australia and New Zealand. The petitions ultimate call to action was: We call upon fair minded Australians and New Zealanders to sign this petition to show that they regard these attacks on ANZAC Day as a disgrace. By signing we also ask people to commit to rising above petty reprisals and the promotion of online hate. The petition was formally directed to the Australian and New Zealand Minister for Veteran Affairs, but only asked them to note the petitions existence and the views of the signatories in support of ANZAC Day. The petition received 1,974 signatures. Future campaigns OHPI will continue to run campaigns to support our major reports, but we will also run smaller campaigns supported by OHPI briefings. At the start of year two we have successfully run a number of such campaigns relating to specific content which we have asked people to report. These briefings serve an educational purpose (providing background on the nature of content examined) as well as a practical purpose by providing reporting instructions. OHPI expects to run more smaller campaigns in the future. At the start of year two OHPI also began work on a video exposing the problem of online hate. This will be part of an education and fundraising campaign and will see us enter video campaigning on YouTube for the first time.

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Presentations & Events

International Seminar OHPI was invited by the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University to present at the 11th International Seminar on Antisemitism and Xenophobia in Warsaw, Poland.4 OHPIs presentation focused on our Aboriginal Memes report and the way lessons learned in combating antisemitism were applied to right this new round of hate directed against Indigenous Australians. Examples of online antisemitism in Social Media were also shared and the significance of social media, rather than websites, as a source of hate was highlighted. The presentation was very well received and the seminar provided an opportunity to network with other experts, diplomats and politicians.

OHPI presented a gift of a boomerang to the conference organisers and the Israeli Ambassador to Poland who hosted the seminar reception.

The conference also provided an opportunity to meet and plan for the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism, and its working group on online antisemitism, with Adv David Matas from Canada and Amb Gideon Bahar (Head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism at Israeli Foreign Ministry).

http://kantorcenter.tau.ac.il/event/international-seminar-antisemitism-and-xenophobia-warsaw

P a g e | 17 Owning Racism symposium A short presentation on the Aboriginal Memes situation was presented at the Melbourne Immigration Museums Owning Racism symposium as the situation was unfolding.5 The presentation was a last minute addition to the program and occurred within days of the situation first reaching the media. The audience included Aboriginal Elders, leaders of ethnic communities and academic experts working in the field of racism from around Australia. As the OHPI report into Aboriginal Memes neared completion a guest lecture was given to a Monash University postgraduate law class studying Indigenous rights. OHPI Dinner for Activists OHPI ran a dinner to thank leading grassroots activists against online hate, specifically those working against the Aboriginal Memes issue. The dinner included the activists, staff and international guests of the Melbourne Immigration Museums Owning Racism symposium and members of the OHPI Board of Directors. The event led to a sharing of knowledge and re-energising of volunteers. National Anti-Racism Strategy Launch At the invitation of the Racial Discrimination Commission, OHPI attended the launch of the National Anti-Racism strategy. A number of useful contacts were made at the launch. Digital Campaigning Conference FWD2012 OHPI attended a conference on digital campaigning and presented a discussion session on the challenge of campaigning against online hate and challenging social media companies to improve their practises. The session was attended by staff from the Australian Human Rights Commission, Change.org and other NGOs. World Jewish Congress At the invitation of the World Jewish Congress, OHPI attended and presented at the World Jewish Congress conference in Hungary. The OHPI presentation was part of a panel on online antisemitism. Other panellists included Ariel Seidler from the Web Observatory in Argentina and Dr Rafal Pankowski from the Never Again Association in Poland. The presentation was very well received.

http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/owning-racism/

P a g e | 18 Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism The Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism is run by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. OHPIs CEO served as a member of the steering committee for the Global Forum and as co-chair of the Global Forums Working Group on Antisemitism in the Internet and in the Media. The Working Group was made up of about 50 international experts in the field of online hate and the plenary included 450 people including government ministers from various countries, diplomats, Jewish community leaders, leaders from NGOs combating antisemitism, academics and members of the press. Dr Oboler opened the working group session with a presentation on TEMPIS Taxonomy for classifying online communications. Work on the Taxonomy, an important tool for policy formation and law review, was supported by OHPI. The report based on the working groups work over the previous two years, Online Antisemitism: A systematic review which was co-edited by Dr Andre Oboler and Adv David Matas, was launched at a plenary session of the conference and released via the Israeli Foreign Ministrys website.6 NUIS Workshop OHPI ran a day long training workshop for student activists working to combat antisemitism in Israel. The workshop was presented by OHPI for the National Union of Israeli Students and was attended by about 17 students. Staff from the Israeli Prime Ministers Office also observed. Participants found the workshop very useful and organisers have asked if it would be possible to run it again when the next cohort of students are appointed.

http://ohpi.org.au/addressing-the-global-forum-2013/

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Stakeholder engagement
Governments and Agencies Federal Parliament OHPI was invited to be part of the consultation group for the Federal Coalitions Online Safety Working Group chaired by Paul Fletcher MP. As part of this OHPI participated in a round table discussion with MPs and a small number of other NGOs and also sent a written submission reviewing past coalition policy in this area, and a response to the working groups draft report. Australian Human Rights Commission OHPI worked closely with the AHRC on the Aboriginal Memes incident and submitted a draft of our report to the Commission for comment before publically releasing it. A number of changes and clarifications were in response to suggestions from the Commission. OHPI also took part in a consultation with the Racial Discrimination Commission, a feedback session on the National Anti-Racism Campaign, and was an invited guest at the launch of the National Anti-Racism Strategy. We are a supporter of Commissions national anti-racism campaign: Racism. It Stops with me. At the start of year two we took part in idea mapping session on cyberbullying with the Childrens Commissioner at the Bullying Young People and the Law Symposium. Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission - OHPI took part as a key informant in a research project conducted by VHREOC into online racism. The process involved an extended interview discussing online racism and the nature of OHPIs work. OHPI also provides written material to assist with the report. VHREOCs report, Reporting racism > what you say matters,7 makes extensive reference to both OHPIs work and past work by OHPIs CEO Dr Andre Oboler. The Chairperson of VHREOC, with the support of the VHREOC Board, provided an endorsement for OHPIs report Recognizing Hate Speech: Antisemitism on Facebook. Victoria Police OHPI has been in contact with various parts of Victoria police. We are in regular contact with one of Victoria Polices Multicultural Liaison Officers. OHPI itself has also come under online attacks including theft of intellectual property, impersonation, defamation and sustained harassment. These incidents have been reported to the Police as well. Attorney General (Victoria) OHPI has provided analysis to Victorias Attorney General on the risks social media can pose to the justice system. OHPIs view is that the media has over inflated the concern surrounding the risk to a fair trial, but that there are real issues where legislative change should be considered. Melbourne Immigration Museum - OHPI took part in a symposium on racism run by the Immigration Museum and delivered a presentation on online racism to the audience gathered there. The Museum is a partner in a government funded research project on online hate, let by the University of Technology Sydney, which OHPI is also involved with. Foreign Ministry of Israel (Antisemitism Department) - OHPIs CEO worked closely with the Director of the Antisemitism Department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in planning a Global Forum to Combat

http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/index.php/our-resources-andpublications/reports/item/680-reporting-racism--what-you-say-matters

P a g e | 20 Antisemitism Conference. Dr Oboler serves as co-chair of the Online Antisemitism Working group and as a member of the Global Forums steering committee. Diplomats various diplomats engaged with OHPI, particularly at the Antisemitism Conference in Warsaw and at the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism. Of particular note was a discussion with the US Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues related to the position of the US as a harbour for online hate and the ability of congress to mitigate this through laws preventing anonymous online hate such laws would be constitutional in the US. Non-Government Organisations European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (EISCA) OHPIs CEO was appointed to the steering group of the EISCA research project A Web of Hate: Analysis of antisemitic comments on mainstream news websites. Institute for the study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) OHPI is in discussion with ISGAP, based in the US and run by Dr Charles Small, regarding an affiliation agreement. The agreement would see ISGAP raise funds in the US to support OHPIs work based in Australia. In return OHPI would acknowledge ISGAPs support and ISGAP could promote OHPIs work as that of an affiliate ISGAP supports. Magenta Foundation OHPI received support from the Magenta Foundation (an anti-racism NGO based in the Netherlands) including endorsement of our report into Aboriginal Memes and promotion of our work within international inter-governmental forums. Never Again Association OHPI has met with and shared technical knowledge with the Never Against Association, a major anti-hate NGO based in Poland. A partnership arrangement has been discussed. Web Observatory OHPI has discussed a partnership arrangement with the Web Observatory based in Argentina. The Web Observatory is part of the Latin American Jewish Congress and monitors online hate in Spanish. Executive Council of Australian Jewry OHPI has worked closely with the ECAJ on a number of incidents relating to online antisemitism. This work includes the compilation of briefing documents to support complaints ECAJ takes to the Australian Human Rights Commission. Aboriginal Medical Services (Redfern) OHPI has been working to support the AMS in its complaint against Facebook over Aboriginal Memes. This includes ongoing work to monitor the situation and update the complaint as new hate promotion pages promoting Aboriginal Memes emerge. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies OHPI has worked with the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies in responding to a number of incidents of online hate emanating from NSW. This cooperation generally involves OHPI compiling reports documenting a situation and recommending one or more course of action to respond. This is provided to the board who then decide on the appropriate action that should be taken.

P a g e | 21 Anti-Defamation Commission OHPI has a regular dialogue with ADC and plans to increase the level of cooperation in the future. While OHPI brings significant expertise, as a more established organisation, ADC has a greater ability to engage stakeholders. All Together Now OHPI has been developing a relationship with All Together Now, a NSW based anti-racism NGO that was admitted to the Harm Prevention Register at the same time as OHPI. Kantor Center (Tel Aviv University) OHPI was invited to present at the Kantor Centers International Seminar on Antisemitism and Xenophobia in Warsaw, Poland (see above). National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) NUIS runs a group called students against Antisemitism the student take part in a year long program receiving training and then working to remove online antisemitism. OHPI ran a work shop for the students and is in contact with them online. Social Media Companies OHPI continues to provide Google, YouTube and Facebook with advanced copies of major reports and to provide them with the option of responding before our reports become public. Where the platforms take such action it had an added preventative effect and helps stop the hate from spreading. We also invite them to provide a public response, though that offer has not been taken up. In each of OHPIs reports we provide recommendations for changes the platform providers can make to mitigate against the spread of online hate. These recommendations affect areas such as software, system, procedures and policy. In our first year we were please to see an OHPI recommendation adopted by Facebook. That recommendation involved the removal of anonymity for page owners posting questionable content, and who at their option would prefer to have their profile associated with their page rather than have the page deleted. This is not a solution in the case of hate speech, but it does increase accountability for hateful content that falls short of hate speech. At the start of year two OHPI was please to receive a Google Grant that provides us with in-kind support through free advertising via the AdWords program. We were also pleased to join YouTubes non-profit program. We believe our work not only benefits society, but actively works to solve difficult problems faced by online platform providers. We are also major user of online social media services. While maintaining independence in our research, analysis, campaigning and reporting, we welcome both financial support from social media and other technology companies and their active cooperating in working with us to improve their systems to prevent online hate.

P a g e | 22

Volunteers
Grassroots OHPI has supported a number of Facebook based grassroots anti-hate groups. We are in regular communication with the volunteers running these groups. These volunteers provide a wealth of useful information to OHPI, which we are then able to further analyse, report on, and respond to using both online and offline approaches. OHPI also acts as a clearing house for information, though there is significant work to be done to improve our tools in this area. OHPI Community A private social media platform was setup by OHPI, initially for use by the board, but was soon expanded to support volunteers. This system allows files and data to be stored online outside of systems like Facebook. Social Media OHPIs Facebook page has 637 fans at the end of the first year, with active promotion at the start of year two this increased to over 1,300 by September 2013. We also increased our Twitter followers from 71 in January 2013 to 143 in September 2013. Our online petitions have resulted in a few hundred people opting in to receive further information from OHPI. This forms a good base from which we can develop a wider social media and e-mail presence. We have the infrastructure and we have the start of a support base. With increased staff and volunteers we should be in a position to produce regular content and grow our supporters. Trained volunteers At the start of year two OHPI provided some training to volunteers in Melbourne and intends providing further training to volunteers in Sydney and possibly Brisbane. OHPI training enables volunteers to better track and document the online hate they report, which in turn provides better quality data to OHPI for analysis and follow up action where the content is not removed by the platform providers.

P a g e | 23

Publications and Media

OHPI received extensive coverage in a report by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. There were also 26 articles about OHPI written by others, either in the media or in major blogs, and 13 articles by OHPI staff. OHPI also published four major reports, and OHPIs CEO was the co-editor of a major report into Online Antisemitism published by the Israeli Government as part of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism, and was also a co-author on a research paper published by the journal First Monday. Government Reports citing OHPI 1. Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Reporting Racism, State of Victoria, 2013.8 On Trolls:
On The OHPI told us that hate in social media is a problem due to the technical capacity of social media and the ability to incite and spread it in a viral manner. They observed that most of the material they look at has been generated mainly by individuals, or loosely organised groups, [and] there is often no ideology behind it besides that they find this derogatory material amusing. The OHPI described the profile of these individuals as trolls people who find it amusing to destroy other 9 peoples online experience.

On Social Media:
In the opinion of the OHPI, on-line griefers have greater numbers and more impact in relation to online racism than organised hate groups. This suggests that, while it is important to be conscious of the content and impact of white supremacist groups online, the primary focus of action in addressing racism online should centre on popular, mainstream platforms (such as Facebook and YouTube) that are used to 10 disseminate racist content.

On Intimidating Anti-Hate Activists:

Racism online can cause fear and hurt to the people who are targeted, as well as to their families and friends. When prominent community members or anti-racism campaigners are targeted with personal attacks, it can create a genuine threat to their personal safety... OHPI also notes that openly targeting those who visibly oppose online hate also has an indirect effect of intimidating bystanders into remaining silent. This further enables the spread of hate, and an impression of public 11 acceptability, through society.

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Reporting Racism, State of Victoria, 2013 <http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/media/k2/attachments/Reporting_Racism_Web_low_res.pd f> 9 Ibid 27 10 Ibid 29 11 Ibid 30

P a g e | 24 On OHPIs Monitoring Solution Fight Against Hate:

The OHPI told us that they have a plan to systematically monitor sites and collect data that other organisations can use to respond to online hate. They noted that the organisation is: currently designing a solution to capture that information and assure quality control over the data. To capture this information, the public would need to be involved to assist with capturing the datait is now an engineering challenge and a challenge to get the funding to make this a reality. A mechanism to monitor racism online and to link this to a real-world location would provide a basis for equal opportunity bodies and police to respond proactively to 12 racism online.

Reports and Journal Papers 1. Andre Oboler, Kristopher Welsh, Lito Cruz, The danger of big data: Social media as computational social science, First Monday, Volume 17, Number 7 2 July 2012. 2. Andre Oboler, Multiple and Severe Hate Speech on YouTube (OHPI, 2012). 3. Andre Oboler, Aboriginal Memes and Online Hate (OHPI, 2012). 4. Andre Oboler, Recognizing Hate Speech: Antisemitism on Facebook (OHPI, 2013). 5. Andre Oboler, Attacking the ANZACs on Facebook (OHPI, 2013). 6. Andre Oboler and David Matas (eds), Online Antisemitism: A systematic review, Report of the Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, 30 May 2013. A Selection of Media Coverage of OHPI 1. Atara Arbesfeld, YouTube, Google and Apple Take Steps Towards Combating Online AntiSemitism, The Algemeiner, 1 August 2012. 2. Jewish Press Staff, YouTube Removes Hundreds of Videos in Response to New Report on Online Anti-Semitism, The Jewish Press, 1 August 2012. 3. J-Wire Staff, Hate Prevention Institute meets with Success, J-Wire, 2 August 2012. 4. Peter Kohn, YouTube too slow on hate videos, Australian Jewish News, 14 August 2012. 5. Rachel Hirshfeld, YouTube Too Slow Taking Action Against Hate Videos, Arutz Sheva, 14 August 2012. 6. YouTube es demasiado lento en tomar acciones contra los videos de odio, Jewish News Agency (Argentina), 15 August 2012. 7. Andy Park, Racism laws fail in the world wild web, SBS World News Australia, Friday 17 August. (Article and TV News Report) 8. Lori Lowenthal Marcus, Charge: Facebook Pages Spew Blood Libels, Attack Jews and Aborigines, Mock Anne Frank, The Jewish Press, 11 September 2012. 9. Timna Jacks, the Australian Jewish News, 21 September 2012, page 4. 10. SBS Staff, Trolling laws inadequate, lawyer says, SBS News, 16 October 2012 11. Poland Fights Against Xenophobia, Radio Poland, 19 October 2012.

12

Ibid 3031

P a g e | 25 12. Andy Park, Racial abuse caught on smartphone, SBS World News Australia, 20 November 2012. 13. Social Media is the Message, Australian Jewish News, November 30th 2012, pg 40. 14. Israel Matzav, Major report into racism on Facebook, March 20 2013. 15. Elders of Ziyon, Major report released on antisemitism in Facebook, March 21 2013. 16. Sarah Brown, New report from OHPI on hate speech and social media, Engage, 21 March 2013. 17. Hate on Facebook, J-wire, March 21 2013. 18. David Werdiger, The Hate Network, The Times of Israel, March 21 2013. 19. Facebooks Anti-Semitism Problem, Galus Australis, 21 March 2013. 20. Crece la preocupacin por los mensajes antisemitas en la red social Facebook, Jewish News Agency (Argentina), March 22 2013 (in Spanish) 21. Antisemitism on Facebook investigated, Israel-Palestijnen News Blog, March 22 2013 (in Dutch). 22. Take Action News with David Shusters broadcast on We Act Radio (USA), March 23, 2013. 23. Eric Bender, Steady Increase in Networks promoting Antisemitism, Maariv, April 3 2013 (in Hebrew) 24. Elinor Fuks, Righteous network: Bloggers fight antisemitism, Mako, April 7 2013 (in Hebrew) 25. Tal Frost, Anti-Semitism in information era, Ynet News, April 8 2013. 26. Manfred Gerstenfeld, I social media contro ebrei e Israele, Informazione Corretta, 26 June 2013 (in Italian) (English Title: Social Media Against the Jews and Israel: Manfred Gerstenfeld interviews Andre Oboler). Articles by OHPI Staff in the Media & Major Blogs 1. Andre Oboler, Virtual hate poses real world threat, The Australian Jewish News, 10 February 2012, page 3. 2. Andre Oboler and David Matas, President Peres in the Lions Den, The Jerusalem Post, 6 March 2012, page 14. 3. Andre Oboler, What Market Forces mean for Facebook, Jerusalem Post Blogs, May 24 2012. 4. Andre Oboler, Sweden questions its Jewish problem on twitter, Jerusalem Post Blogs, June 13 2012. 5. Andre Oboler, Facebook sanctions antisemitic content, Jerusalem Post Blogs, 10 September 2012. 6. Andre Oboler, Ahmadinejad and Assange: why Julian Assange should be Ecuadors next UN Ambassador, Jerusalem Post Blogs, 28 September 2012. 7. Andre Oboler, The Hitler Shield: Mocking the Dead at Facebook, Jerusalem Post Blogs, 22 October 2012. 8. Andre Oboler, The 11th International Seminar on Antisemitism, ROI Blog, 21 November 2012. 9. Andre Oboler, Facebook will kill democracy, Jerusalem Post Blogs, 22 November 2012. 10. Andre Oboler, If you cant Recognize Hate Speech, the sunlight cant penetrate, The Louis D. Brandeis Center Blog, March 22 2013. 11. Andre Oboler, Facebooks blind spot to Antisemitism, Jerusalem Post Blogs, 25 March 2013. 12. Andre Oboler, Branding Facebook: Power and Impact, Cutting Edge News, March 25 2013.

P a g e | 26

Establishing the Institute

As a new organisation significant establishment work was undertaken this first year including:

Government Registration:
Incorporated as a Public Company Limited by Guarantee Approved by ASIC as a s 150 company, allowing us to omit Ltd from our name Granted Tax Concession Charity status by the ATO: GST Concession; Income tax exception; and Fringe benefits tax rebate. Admitted to the Register of Harm Prevention Charities administered by FaHCSIA Granted DGR (type 1) status for our public fund Granted charity fundraising licences in Victoria, NSW, and Tasmania Registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission (ACNC)

Internal Governance:
An initial Board of Directors was agreed OHPIs Constitution was drafted and agreed Honourary Accountants were appointed and a registered office established at their premises Honourary Solicitors were appointed Auditors were appointed A Director was appointed Managing Director and employed as CEO A Business Plan for the first financial year was created and progress reviewed against it A Human Resources Sub-Committee was appointed A Financial Sub-Committee was appointed An Audit and Risk Sub-Committee was appointed A Committee of Management for the Public Fund was appointed A Risk Register was created and periodically reviewed and revised The first internal audit reconciled all financials and recommended filing improvements

Establishment Administration
Office arrangements were agreed The office fit-out was completed and includes desks, chairs, a book case, whiteboard, printer / scanner / copier, computer equipment, and sufficient mobile desks and chairs to accommodate a team of up to 8 volunteers in addition to staff Assets and cash reserves from the CIE project were transferred to OHPI Insurance policies were selected and insurance purchased covering: Professional Indemnity; Management Liability (Directors & Officers Insurance); Public Liability; Content Liability; Work Safe Compulsory Insurance

P a g e | 27

About The Institute

Vision
To change online culture so hate in all its forms becomes as socially unacceptable online as it is in real life.

Mission
To be a world leader in combating online hate and a critical partner who works with key stakeholders to improve the prevention, mitigation and responses to online hate.

Key stakeholders
The key stakeholders in the prevention and control of harm to people as a result of online hate are: Victims of online hate, and particularly victims of harm resulting from online hate Technology companies who provide platforms on which hate can be spread Law makers both within Australia and globally who can shape what is permissible online Law enforcement agencies with a relevant remit The Australian Human Rights Commission and relevant state human rights agencies Schools, universities and community organisations wishing to educate against hate Researchers into online hate and public policy responses The Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism The Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism(particularly the online antisemitism working group) Representative bodies for the various groups specifically targeted by online hate

Principal Activities
The principal activity of OHPI is the promotion of the prevention or control of human behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings, specifically Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Self Harm and suicide. This is carried out through the following activities: 1. Promoting the prevention of abuse by running campaigns against the propagation of online hate that can result in emotional abuse, physical abuse, self harm and suicide 2. Promoting the prevention of abuse and better control of abusive behaviour through education, research and by stimulating debate on (i) online hate, (ii) the prevention of online hate, and (iii) on the link between online hate and behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings 3. Promoting the prevention of abuse and better control of abusive behaviour by equipping young people with relevant skills through youth leadership programs focused on the promotion of multiculturalism and equal opportunity and other approaches to combat the spread of online hate 4. Promoting the prevention of abuse and better control of abusive behaviour by creating an online community, open to the public, that is active in controlling abusive behaviour, namely the spreading of online hate, through monitoring, reporting and engagement with service providers 5. Other activities that promote the prevention or control of online hate that causes emotional abuse, physical abuse, self harm and suicide.

P a g e | 28

The Board of Directors

Jo Silver Qualifications Experience Director, Acting Chairperson MBA from Middlesex University Diploma of Applied Science (Prosthetics & Orthotics), Latrobe University Project Manager at the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Secretary for JCMA and a Trustee for the Marion & Kurt Lipmann Foundation. Formerly Executive Officer of the Victorian Parents Council, General Manager of the Alma Sports Club, Project Coordinator at Jewish Aid Australia, Vice President of the Australian Parents Council and President of Toy Libraries Victoria. Acting Chairperson, Human Resources Committee, Finance Committee Director, Treasurer BA majoring in Mathematics, Statistics and Psychology, Sydney University Qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (London) Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA) James Altman is the President of Bnai Brith Australia and New Zealand, a member of the Board of Governors of B'nai B'rith International and Treasurer of Courage to Care (NSW). He is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the Jewish Community and through fostering intercultural understanding. Formerly honorary treasurer for the Refugee Council of Australia, and a trustee of the Australian Refugee Foundation. He has held senior financial management roles in the life insurance industry, culminating in his appointment to the top management position of Chief Actuary in a prominent life office. He has also worked as a consulting actuary. Treasurer, Finance Committee, Audit and Risk Committee Director, Company Secretary Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Tertiary qualifications in linguistics, psychology, computer science, language processing, information technology and business. Vice President at Event Zero, Commercialization Advisor and Product Strategist at SYL Semantics, and as a founder, executive officer for several software businesses in Australia and overseas. Formerly executive committee member of The Perl Foundation, The System Administrator's Guild of Australia, and IEEE Computer Society Victorian Chapter. Currently on the Standards Committee of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Company Secretary, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee Director BA in International Relations from La Trobe University Employed in the Australian Government's Office of Transport Security since 2009. Founder & President of the Capital Jewish Forum, and Founder & President of Tzedek. Formerly Executive Officer of the B'nai B'rith AntiDefamation Commission, President of the ACT Jewish Community, a Vice President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and a Governor on the New South Wales Jewish Communal Appeal Board of Governors. Human Resources Committee

Special responsibilities James Altman Qualifications

Experience

Special responsibilities Baden Hughes Qualifications

Experience

Special responsibilities Manny Waks Qualifications Experience

Special responsibilities

P a g e | 29 Andre Oboler Qualifications Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director PhD in Computer Science from Lancaster University Honours in Bachelor of Computer Science at Monash University Senior Member of the IEEE Computer Society Cochair of the Online Antisemitism working group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism, expert to the Interparliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, country coordinator for the IEEE Computer Society in Australia and New Zealand. Formerly Director of the Community Internet Engagement Project at the Zionist Federation of Australia, Chair of the Lancaster District Diversity Festival, National Secretary of the Union of Jewish Students, a Deputy on the Board of Deputies of British Jews, an invited observer on the board of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, and a charity trustee for the Lancaster University Chaplaincy Centre and the National Postgraduate Committee in the UK. CEO and Managing Director, Finance Committee Director PhD in Computer Science from Monash University Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Fellow of the Australian Computer Society Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Professor John Rosenberg is Senior Deputy ViceChancellor and VicePresident of La Trobe University. He has previously served as Deputy ViceChancellor (Academic) at Deakin University and Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. Prof Rosenberg is a founder of Kehilat Nitzan, Melbournes Conservative synagogue. Chair of the Human Resources Committee, Public Fund Committee of Management Director Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Sydney Dr Ron Weiser is a practicing dentist, Hon. Life President of the Zionist Council of NSW and Immediate Past President of Zionist Federation of Australia. He is a Committee Member of the board of Governors of the Jewish Agency. He is a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the community through leadership roles with the Zionist Federation of Australia, to the promotion and development of AustraliaIsrael relations, and to youth. He is also a recipient of the Jerusalem Prize and of the Herzl Award for leadership and service to the Jewish World. Public Fund Committee of Management Chairperson, Director Fine Arts degree, Diploma of Education, Graduate Diploma of Media Studies, and Master of Education degree. Managing Director of the Advocacy Consulting Group. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Melbourne Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre, as a teacher, coordinator, and acting deputy school principle for the Victorian Education Department and as President of Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants. Chairperson (until February 2013)

Experience

Special responsibilities John Rosenberg Qualifications

Experience

Special responsibilities

Ron Weiser Qualifications Experience

Special responsibilities Bernard Korbman Qualifications Experience

Special responsibilities

P a g e | 30 Daniel Goodhardt Qualifications Experience Director Masters in counter terrorism studies from Monash University. Head of Information at the Community Security Group (Victoria) and Youth Liaison for the Zionist Federation of Australia. Formerly a researcher at the B'nai B'rith AntiDefamation Commission and a presenter of the Click Against Hate program.

History of OHPI
OHPI was created in 2012 as a dedicated institute for addressing online hate. It took over the online antisemitism work which the Community Internet Engagement Project of the Zionist Federation of Australia carried out between 2009 and 2011. OHPI expands this work to also examine other forms of online hate, while still maintaining online antisemitism as a particular focus area. OHPI builds on six years of work in combating Online Hate by Dr Andre Oboler. This work began in the UK with Zionism On The Web, a website to combat online hate that was launched in 2005. In 2007 Dr Oboler continued this work in Israel while a Post Doctoral Fellow. His work in the area of online antisemitism, published primarily by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, received international attention. On the basis of his work Dr Oboler became a member of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism, and in time co-chair of its Online Antisemitism Working Group. Returning to Australia, the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Pratt Foundation created the Community Internet Engagement Project to allow this important work to continue within an Australian setting. The CIE project was a great success in terms of output and impact, but without deductable gift recipient status it was unable to secure long term funding. The CIE project closed after two years with an agreement to transfer those aspects of the project that could be charitable to a new institution capable of being a deductable gift recipient. The collaborative online monitoring software, Fight Against Hate that is a key part of OHPIs business plan has already been substantially designed as part of the CIE project. It has also been presented to and received approval from a meeting of experts, and at public events where it was presented in both Melbourne and Sydney. Thanks are given to the Pratt Foundation and Bnai Brith Australia and New Zealand who substantially funded this work, and to the Zionist Federation of Australia for their efforts to ensure the work can continue in a viable manner.

Online Hate Prevention Fund

The Online Hate Prevention Fund is OHPIs public fund. The fund accepts tax deductible donations from members of the public to support OHPIs work in preventing emotional abuse, physical abuse, suicide and other forms of harm to people that can result from online hate. The public fund has its own Committee of Management appointed by the OHPI Board of Directors. The Committee of Management consists of: James Altman OAM, Prof John Rosenberg and Dr Ron Weiser AM.

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Statement of beliefs
The Online Hate Prevention Institute believes: Expressions of hate made on the internet are as harmful as expressions made in real life. The volume of communication that now occurs on the internet makes it a primary place for interaction and social communication, particularly for children and young adults. Increasing internet connectedness, through portable devices and mobile phones, allows new and more persistent forms of abusive behaviour to occur. The prevention and mitigation of hate is a social issue that is best addressed through education and the establishment of social norms that protect vulnerable groups and individuals. Online public education and the development of online culture are areas of specialist knowledge; to combat online hate requires skill and knowledge in these areas. Lessons learned from combating one form of online hate may help us prevent, mitigate and respond to other forms of online hate. It is important to show the diversity of groups that are put at risk through online hate, and to work with partners within these groups and the communities that support them. Antisemitism is a particularly prevalent form of online hate. In some cases online antisemitism is state sponsored, in some other cases it is linked to terrorism. These factors make an emphasis in responding to online antisemitism important. Though there is much work still to do, online antisemitism receives more attention than other forms of hate and international coordination to address the problem is more advanced than efforts to combat other forms of hate. Being part of the community addressing online antisemitism is important, as is creating awareness in this community of steps needed to address other forms of online hate. The Working Definition of Antisemitism13 from the European Union Agency For Fundamental Rights (formerly EUMC) provides the definition for antisemitism that OHPI will generally use. The use of the definition will be explicit where ever possible.

These beliefs guide the management of the Online Hate Prevention Institute.

13

http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/material/pub/AS/AS-WorkingDefinition-draft.pdf