Australians Missing in Nepal Targeted by Racist Slurs

Racist comments have surfaced on social media following the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet floods, targeting Australians reported missing. This has led to calls for greater accountability from major platforms in removing hateful content.

As of Monday, 43 Australians were missing after flash floods caused by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas, with the overall death toll reaching at least 810. Many of the missing Australians were on pilgrimages, including to the sacred site of Mount Kailash in Tibet. Fourteen are members of the Australia Bharatha Brahmin Samaj community from Sydney.

While families await news of their loved ones, news outlets such as News Corp, Channel 7, Channel 10, and Nine have faced highly offensive and discriminatory comments on Facebook articles about the missing Australians. Some outlets, including Guardian Australia, have restricted comments on posts concerning the missing tourists due to a surge of racist replies.

One Daily Telegraph article's Facebook comments included claims that missing citizens who were not white were not Australian, which were later removed. The editor, Ben English, described these comments as "abhorrent" and stated they have no place on their platforms, acknowledging the difficulty of automatically filtering coded racism.

These offensive remarks have also spread on X, formerly Twitter. An associate professor at QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre, Tim Graham, noted a decade-long increase in hateful rhetoric on social media, attributing it to platform algorithms that reward inflammatory content for engagement. He argued that platforms possess the technology, including AI models, to combat such content but are not fully utilizing it for moderation.

The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, linked the comments to ongoing debates about migration in Australia, stating they reflect a rise in white supremacy ideology and have devastating consequences. He criticized social media companies for profiting from racism and called for a digital duty of care for all platforms operating in Australia.

Surinder Jain, vice-president of the Hindu Council of Australia, expressed sadness at people exploiting a tragedy to voice political displeasure, urging for dignity towards the deceased and grieving families. The Nepalese Australian Welfare Society president, Chiran Tiwari, emphasized the need for humanity and looking beyond nationality, noting the deep hurt caused to affected families.