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Racist and antisemitic false information spreads online following Bondi Beach terrorism attack

Published

11 months ago

December 17, 2025

A deepfake image depicting one of the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack is among a slew of false information that has spread online following the tragedy.

ABC NEWS Verify has found multiple examples of social media users spreading false information about the attackers and victims – which are receiving millions of views.

Deepfake propaganda

Arsen Ostrovsky was injured in the attack on 14 December.

Ostrovsky photographed himself with blood on his face and shirt in an image that was published to a friend’s X account just hours after the attack.

He could not have known when he took the striking image that it would be used to create antisemitic propaganda.

Late on Monday night, an article appeared on well-known Russian disinformation site Pravda, which claims to be a world news website.

The article contained an AI-generated image of Ostrovsky having his face painted red alongside a screenshot of the inaccurate result of an AI detector, which claimed the image was “100 per cent human”.

The article claimed Ostrovsky was part of “Mossad propaganda”.

The image was created by Google’s artificial intelligence, which ABC NEWS Verify confirmed by testing it in the company’s Synth ID detector tool, which checks for the company’s invisible digital watermark.

Visual analysis of the image also reveals it is a fake.

The writing on the T-shirt in the image, for example, is unreadable, and does not match the original image.

The “film set” in the background of the deepfake image appears off, with tripod legs crisscrossing and seeming to hover just above the ground.

In a larger, non-cropped version of the image that appeared elsewhere on the internet, there are two cars in the background that appear to morph into each other.

Ostrovsky also appeared on a Channel Nine live stream after having his head bandaged.

He is wearing shorts in the live stream, rather than the pants present in the deepfake, and the blood on his shirt also does not match.

In the hours since the attack, Ostrovsky has posted a photo of himself in a hospital gown as he recovers.

A look at Pravda’s domain history shows it is registered in Russia and has a history of spreading pro-Russian propaganda.

The invention of ‘Edward Crabtree’

The world has shared the story of Ahmed Al Ahmed, the tobacconist who wrestled the long-barrelled gun from terrorist Sajid Akram’s arms.

But early on, while Ahmed was in hospital undergoing operations for gunshot wounds, claims began to circulate on social media attributing his heroism to a man called “Edward Crabtree”.

Racist and Islamophobic posts on X, which were seen by hundreds of thousands of people, claimed Ahmed was not Middle Eastern.

Some of the posts referencing Edward Crabtree screenshotted a “news” website called The Daily, which claimed the hospitalised hero was a 43-year-old “IT professional” and a “born and bred Sydneysider”.

The details on the website do not align with reality.

In an interview with ABC News, Ahmed’s Syrian parents said their son arrived in Australia in 2006.

A look at The Daily’s domain registration shows the website was created the day of the attack on December 14.

It also states it is registered in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Ahmed has since met with NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Google search trends

One conspiracy circulating on social media is that the name of one of the gunmen, Naveed Akram, was searched in Israel in the days before the attack.

Screenshots from Google’s Search Trends website have been used online, with a spike in the trend line for a search of the gunman’s name in Israel used as evidence of the false claim.

ABC NEWS Verify asked Google how its Trends site works, and a spokesperson said it may show statistical noise due to privacy protections and/or low sampling volume.

They said it means that for very uncommon terms, Trends data may appear to show some search interest even if there were no actual searches.

They said apparent spikes for low-interest search terms should not be interpreted as reflecting actual search activity.

ABC NEWS Verify tried to replicate the fake spike in Israel in the days before the attack.

The result only showed a spike from about the time the gunman’s name was revealed by the ABC.

Tests in other countries such as Mongolia, Japan and Kenya did produce spikes, showing the unreliability of this method.

Source: ABC & RNZ

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Rugby League: Kangaroos edge Kiwis in World Cup classic 24 -22

Published

4 weeks ago

October 16, 2026

News Staff

In one of the most stunning starts to a sporting tournament, the Kiwis and Kangaroos played out an absolute classic to kick off the Rugby League World Cup.

It was match chock full of barely believable moments, dramatic twists and turns, and superstars stepping up on the biggest stage, with Australia holding on for an enthralling 24-22 win.

Though unlikely to affect the Kiwis semi-final hopes, the loss may come at a different cost, with Kalyn Ponga forced from the field with a suspected broken arm.

It will take something special to top the tournament’s opening try as the Kiwis struck first in sensational style.

With absolutely no room to move in the left hand corner, Casey McLean managed a miracle, finding the grass with his entire body forced over the touchline

The Kangaroos replied with a runaway, Jack Bostock snatching a Jahrome Hughes pass out of the air and streaking away to score.

With the Kiwis forcing a line drop out, Reece Walsh sent it out on the full, Jaymayne Isaako slotting an easy two points.

After the Kiwis forced the defending champs again, Australia nabbed another intercept, this time to take the lead as Tom Trbojevic latched onto a McLean ball and fended off a scrambling Kodi Nikorima to go 90.

As the siren approached, the Kiwis bagged another two points as Nikorima was taken off the ball by Katoni Staggs, the centre sent to the bin as a result as Isaako squared the scores 10-apiece at half-time.

On his first international outing, fullback Ponga put the Kiwis back in front courtesy of a deft offload from Isaiah Papali’i.

After an extended period under the pump, it looked as if Ronaldo Mulitalo had stretched the Kiwis advantage after Trbojevic spilled a kick, but the chasers were ruled to be offside.

The Kangaroos relief turned to rapture as Bostock got his second, leaping above the pack to take a towering Cameron Munster bomb and reinstate the stalemate.

It wouldn’t last long though after Ponga chimed into the line and sliced right through, standing up Walsh to reclaim the lead for the Kiwis.

But Walsh would respond with a stunner of his own, exploding onto a Bostock offload 80 out, showcasing his blistering speed as he beat both Ponga and Hughes who collided with each other, the Australian full back far too fast for the desperate chase of Joseph Tapine.

That chase proved crucial however, as Latrell Mitchell sprayed the conversion to keep the Kiwis in front by two.

Cue more Kangaroos magic, Munster sending it to the skies, Bostock and Isaako with a clean aerial contest, won by Bostock to complete his hat-trick and put the home side up 24-22 with four minutes remaining.

A final Kiwis assault proved futile as the Kangaroos held on to break New Zealand hearts, but ignite a tournament.

See how the game unfolded in our blog:

rnz

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Election 2026: Luxon faces Hipkins in first leaders’ debate

Published

1 month ago

October 7, 2026

News Staff

Analysis – Three years ago, Christopher Luxon headed into his first head-to-head debate with Chris Hipkins on the back of a poll that had National on 37 points and able to form a government with ACT alone.

Labour under then-Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was on a downward spiral on 27 percent in that same 1News-Verian poll and had no path to power.

Fast-forward three years and both parties headed into Tuesday night’s debate with two fresh new polls.

RNZ-Reid Research’s results had National on 26 percent and Labour on 31, while 1News-Verian had a much tighter race with just one point in it and both parties just under 30.

Those results spell early retirement and unemployment for a decent number of National Party MPs currently enjoying the government benches.

MMP has evolved so much in the past two elections that the combined Labour-National vote has gone from 81 percent at the 2017 election to just 57 in Tuesday’s RNZ-Reid Research poll.

So-called minor parties have grown in both size and influence, capturing the imagination of voters that traditionally voted blue or red.

Increasingly polling is suggesting another new party – Opportunity – has a good chance of making it into Parliament and being a potential kingmaker.

There’s now a very real possibility that the next government could be made up of four political parties.

That has happened before under Sir John Key’s National government in 2008, but because he chose to welcome the Māori Party into the fold, not because he had to.

The minor parties of 2026 have leverage and power going into any coalition talks well beyond any previous election years.

It makes a head-to-head between Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins far more redundant in this political age.

Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins at the TVNZ debate, hosted by Jake Tame, Oct 6 2026 — The two Chrises greet each other.

TVNZ/Harley Peters

They can’t fully commit to any of the promises they make because the slate is almost entirely wiped clean after 7 November when political parties sit down to discuss what a future government might look like.

Luxon has ruled out working with Opportunity after the election because of its land tax policy and National campaigning on no new taxes.

On Tuesday night he repeatedly refused to answer whether he would pick the phone up if he needed the party to be prime minister.

Instead, he repeated his previous comments about an untenable land tax, and then told reporters after the debate the question was a “hypothetical” that didn’t need an answer.

To be clear, that’s not a no.

At times in the debate the leaders could have been put in a time machine and transported back to three years ago, so similar were some of the issues and answers to them.

The cost of living crisis continued to be the overwhelming theme, a healthcare system under pressure and patients waiting too long in emergency departments hadn’t improved, and neither Chris had fully grasped the meaning of a yes or no question.

There was no big revelation or pledge – on the latter neither party has the headroom in their fiscal plans to do so.

It’s unlikely undecided voters watching were swayed one way or the other by the end of it.

That’s not to say the two Chrises performed badly.

They were both across their briefs, and while they had some nervous energy at the outset both settled into a comfortable rhythm and got their key messages across.

While Hipkins managed to land a few blows on Luxon over his failure to discipline New Zealand First’s Winston Peters and Shane Jones over racist remarks, Luxon in return made a strong argument on education and had Hipkins concede he had done what Labour couldn’t and got India across the line on a free trade agreement.

The biggest controversy of the night was the pair being asked to pick between the All Blacks and the Warriors with Luxon going Team ABs while Hipkins chose to “Up the Wahs”.

Both would have gone to bed happy with their performance and grateful they didn’t say or do anything they deeply regretted.

There is a week until they face-off again – another week of smiling at the cameras and hoping voters return them to the major party league.

rnz

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Sydney Roosters win NRL Grand Final with one point victory over Newcastle Knights

Published

1 month ago

October 5, 2026

News Staff

A Daly Cherry-Evans field goal proves the difference as the Sydney Roosters beat the Newcastle Knights 19-18 in the NRL grand final.

The Roosters dictated for most of the night, but Newcastle led 12-0 on the back of two first-half tries against the run of play, including a spectacular 95-metre effort by Kalyn Ponga.

Mark Nawaqanitawase, whose bat-back led directly to Ponga’s try, got the Roosters on the board just before half-time and Billy Smith muscled his way over shortly after the break.

Desperate scrambling defence kept the Knights level until Nawaqanitawase scored his second after a lucky ricochet off the upright, and Cherry-Evans slotted a one-pointer with 10 minutes left.

Knights winger Greg Marzhew scored in the 77th minute to set up a grandstand finish, but they could not get into range to try to level the game.

Earlier, the Roosters won their third NRLW premiership, scoring seven tries to thrash the Brisbane Broncos 30-6 in a blowout and exact revenge in a rematch of the 2025 decider.

– ABC News