FOA has identified a troubling and accelerating trend in Australia: far-right extremist groups — including white supremacists and neo-Nazi networks — are rapidly expanding their presence on TikTok. This surge is not accidental. It reflects a deliberate strategy to reach, influence, and recruit teenagers and young adults on a platform whose user base skews overwhelmingly young.
TikTok as a Recruitment Tool
Our monitoring shows that these groups are creating large numbers of new TikTok channels designed to appear edgy, humorous, or “countercultural” while subtly embedding extremist ideology. Antisemitic tropes, racist narratives, and conspiracy theories are often introduced gradually, normalised through repetition, memes, and coded language.
The aim is clear: to draw in young Australians who may be curious, isolated, or susceptible to simplistic explanations of complex social and political issues — and then funnel them towards more explicit extremist spaces.
FOA is currently cataloguing these accounts and has begun reporting them to TikTok through our Trusted Flagger status, with the objective of ensuring swift review and removal where violations occur. This proactive approach is critical to preventing further radicalisation and harm.
White Australia and the Push for “Legitimacy”
Alongside TikTok, FOA is closely monitoring activity across encrypted and alternative platforms. At present, we are tracking 23 Telegram profiles linked to the White Australia network and the emerging political entity Terra Australis Alba.
Our analysis suggests these groups are attempting to reposition themselves from fringe extremist movements into something resembling a legitimate political force. This effort to “launder” extremist ideology through formal political structures makes their online strategy especially concerning. TikTok, with its reach and algorithmic amplification, has become central to this push for mainstream visibility.
FOA anticipates that this ecosystem will continue to grow unless decisive action is taken by platforms and regulators alike.
Recent Enforcement: Recruitment Content Removed
This week alone, FOA successfully identified and removed three TikTok recruitment videos tied to far-right extremist networks. These videos employed familiar tactics: nationalist imagery, victimhood narratives, and coded antisemitic messaging aimed at normalising exclusionary worldviews.
While removals are an important step, they also highlight the scale of the challenge. For every account taken down, others often appear — reinforcing the need for sustained monitoring and cooperation with platforms.
Exploiting Legal Proceedings for Visibility
In parallel, FOA has observed a noticeable increase in online reports connected to pro-Palestinian and Islamist groups following legal proceedings involving Hash Tayeh. These groups appeared to leverage the legal process as a publicity opportunity, framing court actions as part of a broader struggle and using them to galvanise supporters.
Online narratives were frequently paired with calls for continued offline activism, including factory blockades and public demonstrations. This pattern suggests a coordinated strategy in which legal cases are used to legitimise and energise ongoing campaigns across both digital and physical spaces.
Conspiracy Theories and Antisemitic Narratives After Tragedy
As has become distressingly predictable, conspiracy theories began circulating almost immediately after news of a recent tragedy broke. False claims accused Jews, Israel, or the Mossad of killing their own people to manufacture international sympathy. At the same time, large volumes of online commentary sought to deflect attention entirely, pivoting to statements such as “what about the children in Gaza?”
The intensity of these reactions was such that several major news outlets temporarily closed their comment sections shortly after publishing the story.
These narratives did not originate from a single ideological source. FOA tracked similar messaging emerging from far-right networks, left-wing pro-Palestinian movements, entrenched antisemitic circles, and conspiracy theorists — illustrating once again how antisemitism transcends political boundaries and thrives in moments of crisis.
FOA’s Rapid Response
FOA responded immediately as the story broke early Sunday morning. Recognising the speed at which harmful narratives were spreading, we increased the number of Arabic-speaking monitors on duty to ensure more accurate, nuanced, and effective monitoring of the evolving discourse.
This rapid response allowed FOA to identify emerging trends, flag violations efficiently, and better understand how antisemitic narratives were being adapted for different linguistic and cultural audiences.
Why This Matters
What we are witnessing is not a series of isolated incidents, but a broader pattern: extremist actors exploiting social media algorithms, legal systems, and moments of public tragedy to amplify hateful narratives and recruit new supporters.
FOA will continue to monitor, report, and expose these networks — while advocating for stronger enforcement, better safeguards for young users, and greater accountability from platforms.
Online hate is not inevitable. It is organised, strategic, and preventable — when it is confronted early and decisively.