crisis actor

YouTube has decided a video falsely claiming a Sydney massacre survivor was a 'crisis actor' can remain online, according to a Google executive testifying at an Australian government inquiry. The inquiry is examining antisemitism and the December attack on a Sydney Hanukkah event that killed 15 people.

YouTube defended a video falsely labeling Bondi Beach massacre survivor Arsen Ostrovsky as a 'crisis actor.' A Google executive stated the decision to keep a clip calling Ostrovsky an 'intel asset' online was made by 'quite senior levels' of the company.

A Google executive testified that a YouTube video falsely claiming a Sydney massacre survivor was a 'crisis actor' met platform standards and would remain online. The video, which included antisemitic conspiracy theories about the survivor, was reviewed at senior levels but not removed despite criticism from an inquiry into online hate speech.