An Australian Muslim advocacy group has filed a complaint against Twitter with the Queensland Human Rights Commission, accusing the site of failing to take action against accounts that incite hatred on the platform.
The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (Aman) argues that as the publisher Twitter is responsible for the content posted by a far-right account that has been quoted in the extremist manifesto that killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.
The network says that despite multiple requests, Twitter has refused to delete the account and responds to its posts that “vilify” Muslims. These include comments such as “Ramadan means killing infidels” and statements that the Qur’an should refer to as the “terrorist handbook.”
The comments cited in the denunciation refer to the Qur’an as “this satanic memory” and to Islam as “the most violent and sexually perverse cult.”
The network has accused Twitter under the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act of inciting hatred as a publisher of third-party accounts, as well as discrimination for refusing to take action against hateful content.
His complaint also says Twitter has been implicated in indirect discrimination in failing to apply Australian standards to the content of its platform.
The network says he was linked to Twitter between July 2020 and July 2021. Aman says he asked the platform to remove several accounts that incited hatred, but Twitter refused to act, saying it was he assessed that the accounts were “consistent with their policies”.
The complaint to the Commission contains 419 articles, including 29 tweets alleging incitement to hatred and 390 comments and quotes about those tweets.
Rita Jabri Markwell, a lawyer for the network, said: “We have been interacting with Twitter for over a year with really shocking examples. Images of Muslim men with guns in their mouths and images of Muslims depicted as monkeys and men of the caves chasing people with knives.
“We want Twitter to take responsibility for their platform. Normal people should not be left in control of their platform by them.”
Twitter’s hateful behavior policy says users “cannot promote violence or directly attack or threaten other people by race, ethnicity … sexual orientation … gender … [or] religious affiliation ”.
He says the platform “does not allow accounts whose main purpose is to incite others to harm on the basis of these categories.”
The Australian High Court found that media companies could be responsible for third-party comments on their posts on their social media in the historic Dylan Voller case last year.
In 2021, the defense network successfully called for orders to remove 141 content posted by former Senator Fraser Anning from Facebook and Twitter.
Twitter refused to remove the content until the court decision.
The network also has a complaint of racial discrimination and section 18C on foot through the Australian Human Rights Commission against Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
“We are only taking these legal actions because it is our only option at the moment. We would like the burden to pass from us to a regulator, probably the electronic security commissioner,” Jabri Markwell said.
The network wants Twitter to immediately remove accounts that tick in serial material that incites hatred against Muslims, including those that propagate the theories of the “great substitute” and the “anti-jihad.”
The group is seeking compensation on Twitter “for the work involved in preparing its complaint, and for the hardships and trauma its failure to act caused Aman’s staff and volunteers.”
“When this online comment is allowed, it makes it normal and we see it repeated in the comment threads on the news,” Jabri Markwell said.
“As a Muslim … it immediately makes you feel like you are on the outside and deeply disrespectful.
“We are contributing, hardworking and supportive members of this community and we deserve to be treated with respect.”
Twitter did not respond to numerous requests for comment.