Palestinians take News Corp to court for alleged hatred
News Corp is being taken to court over allegations of racial discrimination and hatred against Palestinians and Arab Muslims.
Nasser Mashni, chairman of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, Engy Abdelsalam and five others filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against News Corp Australia and its subsidiaries responsible for Sky News, The Australian and The Herald Sun.
The group, represented by Birchgrove Legal, accused the publications of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act by unlawfully publishing or publishing discriminatory content and public comments made in response to it, and by failing to remove those comments.
It also claims their editorial agendas are irresponsible, malicious, sensationalist, factually distorted and more, promoting hatred, ridicule, dehumanization and collective condemnation against Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Australians.
“During this current genocide, suffering and suffering Palestinians have been openly mocked and demonized by News Corp,” Mr Mashni said.
“These companies have engaged in hateful, extreme, dangerous, divisive and racist behavior, and it is time for them to stop being treated as trusted news sources.”
If the group’s lawsuit is successful, media outlets could be forced to remove allegedly discriminatory content, pay compensation and donate to a social organization aimed at eliminating racial discrimination.
High-profile commentators and journalists, including Andrew Bolt, Rita Panahi, Caleb Bond and Sharri Markson, have all been named as individuals who created or published allegedly discriminatory content.
But targeting companies rather than individuals, this is the first time such legal action has been taken against a major Australian news company.
The issue was first presented to the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2025, which found there was no prospect of compromise, paving the way for the group to take the matter to the Federal Court.
Evidence in the original complaints included a February 2025 opinion piece claiming “the underbelly of antisemitism is very strong in Muslim communities”, a September 2024 opinion piece labeling Islam “the most violent religious ideology in the modern world”, and a comment on Sky that “some children in Gaza and the West Bank are being raised to hate Jews”.
Israel’s bombardment, blockade and land invasion of Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, put almost 80 percent of the territory’s 2.3 million residents at risk of starvation and left many homeless, according to the region’s local health ministry and the UN.
It comes after Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the Australian government, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.
AAP has contacted News Corp for comment.
