YouTube defends video that falsely claims Sydney massacre survivor is 'crisis actor'

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Google executive told an inquiry on Tuesday that a YouTube video that falsely claimed a wounded survivor of an antisemitic massacre in Sydney was a crisis actor blooded with makeup had met the platform’s standards and would remain online.

Google Australia manager Rachel Lord was testifying at a government inquiry into the spread of antisemitism in Australia including an attack by two gunmen on a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December that left 15 dead.

Lord was questioned about a complaint made by survivor Arsen Ostrovsky about a video posted on YouTube. Ostrovsky was attacked online after an image showing blood streaming from a wound in his head was posted on X two hours after he was shot.

Lord said the decision to allow the video to remain on YouTube had been reviewed at “quite senior levels.”

“We have spent a lot of time thinking about where we draw the line and we continue to re-evaluate where we are doing that,” Lord said.

Richard Lancaster, the lawyer leading the inquiry’s evidence, referred to a transcript of the video to avoid showing the images in public.

Four men appear on split screen saying Ostrovsky’s bleeding head appeared “very crisis actor-ish” and mentioned “makeup.” They also describe him as an “intelligence asset” who had a “degree in theater.”

The video also describes Ostrovsky as a Zionist and claims the massacre was a “false flag operation.” Police allege father and son shooters Sajid and Naveed Akram were inspired by the Islamic State group.

Lancaster told Lord the video remaining online demonstrated a “really serious deficiency” in YouTube’s hate speech guidelines.

Lord replied that she appreciated Lancaster’s “feedback.”

YouTube told Australia’s online safety regulator three days after the massacre that the platform was “focused on ensuring Australians and all users around the world have access to high quality information about the tragic events,” Lord said.

Ostrovsky told the inquiry last month that he had been targeted by online hate, abuse, vilification and AI manipulation since he suffered the minor head wound on Dec. 14.

The inquiry was then shown an AI-generated image of Ostrovsky apparently laughing as someone applied fake blood to his head.

FILE - Police patrol in the early morning at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Dec. 15, 2025, following the previous day's shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescue teams in the southern Indian state of Kerala raced to find five people still missing a day after heavy monsoon rains caused a deadly landslide, officials said.

The landslide killed at least three people working near a tunnel construction site in Wayanad district, a hill region known for its lush forests and rolling green landscapes.

Seven workers were also injured and are undergoing treatment in a hospital.

Authorities divided the area into zones as rescue crews, including disaster response teams and sniffer dogs, searched the region for missing despite heavy rain hampering operations, Devamanohar, a local police official, told reporters.

A video clip showed a huge mound of mud giving way in heavy rain, uprooting trees and sweeping away metal and fabric barricades around the tunnel construction site.

Kerala’s home minister T. Siddique told reporters it was a "not a natural landslide but a man-made one caused by the unscientific dumping of earth” in comments carried by the Press Trust of India news agency, alleging construction debris was not cleared despite official warnings.

The construction company has denied responsibility, saying the landslide originated far above the work site, the news agency said.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

Last year, cloudbursts, floods and landslides caused significant loss of life and property across India.

Experts say human-caused climate change is intensifying South Asia’s monsoons, which traditionally run from June to September and again from October to December. The rains, once predictable, now arrive in erratic bursts that dump extreme amounts of water in short periods, followed by dry spells.

This photograph released by the Kerala Public Relations department shows rescue operations after a landslide near Meppadi tunnel project in Wayanad, in the southern state of Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Kerala Public Relations department via AP)

This photograph released by the Kerala Public Relations department shows rescue operations after a landslide near Meppadi tunnel project in Wayanad, in the southern state of Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Kerala Public Relations department via AP)