News.com, 8 July 2026
YouTube review results in smear campaign remaining online
By Amy Jackson
From News.com
A video targeting a Jewish Bondi terror attack survivor has survived YouTube’s moderation review, with the platform conceding re-reporting it would result in “absolutely nothing” changing.
A YouTube video describing a Bondi survivor as a “front man” with a “degree in theatre” is still online after human moderators claimed it did not breach rules.
Jewish Australian Arsen Ostrovsky was the target of both the video and a deepfake smear campaign which began shortly after having been injured in the December 14 terror attack which killed 15 innocent people celebrating Chanukah.
Rachel Lord, a senior manager at YouTube Australia defended the hurtful content being “still online” more than six months later in her testimony at the Royal Commission on anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion.
The video involves four men alleging Mr Ostrovsky was “a front man”, “Zionist” and “intelligence asset” for Israel with a “degree in theatre”.