Multiple factors including social media are undermining support for democracy and risk promoting distrust, polarisation and extremist narratives if left unchecked, a royal commission has been told.
Academics and policy experts have made suggestions for the most effective method of responding to anti-Semitism to a public probe into the worst terror attack on Australian soil.
Professors Nicholas Biddle and Matthew Gray, both from the Australian National University, fronted the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion on Monday, speaking to reports they have published on democratic attitudes in Australia and the appropriate response to decreased satisfaction with democracy.
Their June report found satisfaction with democracy fell to its lowest rate since January 2023 while principled support for democracy increased.
Professor Gray said multiple factors could be at play, including people who get most of their information from social media having their support for democracy undermined by the content they see online.
"We conclude that efforts to counter anti-Semitism will be limited unless they also address the platforms through which distrust, polarisation and extremist narratives circulate," Prof Gray told the commission.
He also argued targeted interventions, aimed in particular at young Australians with low educational attainment, who show strikingly low levels of principal democratic support, would be more effective than universal attempts to counter anti-Semitism.
"Because trust in core institutions is closely associated with democratic commitment, consideration should be given to how government agencies, education systems and public communications practices could be made more transparent, accountable and credible, particularly in communities experiencing disadvantage," Prof Gray said. An increase in support for social inclusion and justice during the COVID-19 lockdowns was evident.
Much of the shift during the pandemic was the result of increased government support to those receiving Centrelink payments, Scanlon Foundation Research Institute Anthea Hancock said. The foundation runs the Mapping Social Cohesion project, the only initiative of its kind in the world. Commissioner Virginia Bell said Australians seemed to do very well as a society when locked in their homes and credited the government transparency exemplified by daily updates from state premiers.
The commission heard from representatives from the Somali Society of NSW, Australian United Solidarity for Iran, and Rozana Australia.
Friends Ahmed Hegazi, a strategic adviser, and Joel Lazar, chief executive of the Jewish Climate Network, also fronted the commission, expressing concern about increased polarisation and emphasising the importance of cross-cultural communication.
"Humans who know their neighbours don't feel they are threats and they don't fear them, they feel connected to them," Mr Hegazi said.
"We need to break the cycle."
"There's basically no alternative to trying new things even if they're hard … as fathers of young children, we know important things are always hard," Mr Lazar said.
Monday marked the beginning of the royal commission's ninth and final hearing block.
Commissioner Bell will table her report in December.
